You Wish!
by Din Kelion
Summary: When Danny makes a wish that gets him stuck inside of Norm’s lamp he must find a way out of his horrid predicament before an unlikely Halfa stumbles upon Danny’s lamp and makes a few wishes that both of them may regret. [FOP crossover] VmxDf.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters. I'm gently using them without proper permission and I am not gaining any form of income doing this.

I know this is a little belated, but the idea for this story had only been born in my skull a few days before X-mas.

Some warnings to start off with… Sorry to disappoint possibly more than half of the people who click over this, but this Fan fic will eventually lead into a Vlad/Danny fic. It won't be until later chapters though.

Chapter 1

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Danny Fenton was late as always. It was like a part of his natural order in life to always be a little bit tardy. Whether it's getting up in the morning, or if it's finishing up work at the last minute- they were always something about him that was late. Some have even questioned if there was ever a time that he wasn't late, but then again, no one has ever really noticed Danny when he's punctual. To everyone, Danny was just always late.

Take his height for example. Going on to the age of sixteen; and so far his closest friends- including Sam- were gaining more elevation than him. It was already enough to feel snubbed by some of their grades, but Danny couldn't bare the idea that more of the girls his age had to look down to gain eye contact with him.

We're straying off topic… Danny had other concerns other than his height. Late bloomer or not- Danny was once again behind something, and that something was Christmas shopping.

"I can't believe you haven't even started yet." He heard Sam mildly impressed voice in his right ear. To his left, he could hear Tucker punching keys into his trusty PDA. Danny exhaled a sigh.

He hadn't meant to push aside his chore to finding presents for his family- it had just happened, like most things do. Now he was bruising past the crowds in the mall with his two best friends in search for gifts to buy, and there were only six more days till Christmas.

"Living a second life as a ghost doesn't exactly give me time to browse the shops- or gain any income for that matter…" Danny said, pouting irritably to himself. It wasn't a good excuse, but it was the only reason why he actually did put off his Christmas shopping- that and still harboring a small dislike for the holidays. He didn't try to keep his voice down since the hassle of shoppers made anything that Danny said sound completely and utterly unimportant- except to those that he was speaking too. Sam gave her dearest friend an incredulous look.

"No one has ever said you have to-"

"Don't start that again." Danny interrupted quickly, giving her a challenging look. Sam's purple lips twitched up into a crooked grin. Two years as a super hero ghost side kick taught both Sam and Tucker not to argue about why Danny saves Amity Park selflessly every day from horrible ghosts. Danny did what he could- because he could, it was as simple as that.

"Well it's not like you could haven't gotten some change here and there," said Sam suggestively as she walked along side Danny through Amity Park's mall.

"All right, all right… It doesn't matter now any ways… What's done is done… I have to make do with what I have, yadda-yadda-yah." Danny directed his gaze to his surroundings after hearing a short chuckle from his friendly goth. He was looking for the right place to find his parents a gift. Amity Park's mall was bustling with frantic last minute buyers, and nearly everything worth-while was being bought.

Naturally, Danny felt the urge to flee because of Yule-tide spirit was suffocating everyone's minds with preparations. It made his stomach churn from time to time when his eyes would accidentally fall on someone carrying obviously too much Christmas crap. And Danny was sure that he might be able to swim in the anxiety if he stepped into the nearest popular clothes store.

Sam appeared to be doing the same as Danny- searching for a likely place to find a suitable gift for Maddie or Jack Fenton. She and Tucker had willingly taken the time from their schedule to help Danny carouse the mall for gifts. Why, if it weren't for Tucker's sharp eye, Danny would have missed buying Jazz's perfect gift.

Sam seemed to have no luck in finding anything, the same went for Danny. As for Tucker, he was still presently sending his virtual Christmas cards over his PDA. The urban goth blew out a short sigh.

"Well at least you managed to grab that copy of 'Deakin's book of psychology'. They were a best selling book choice for non-fiction."

Danny made a meek laugh after taking a glance down at his Chapters store bag. In it sat a brand new book that he had bought for Jazz for her Christmas.

"Yeah… Someone returned the book… Lucky." Danny said, sounding anything but fortunate. At that moment, Tucker seemed to drag his attention up from his PDA enough to notice that both of his friends had briefly given up their search to look disappointed or concerned. Tucker cast his eyes over the crowds of shoppers, giving his shot to finding an appropriate store.

"Hey- have you tried out that store? Looks like its one of those one-month shops." Tucker had turned his red capped head to study a segment in the mall near to the exit. Danny frowned and swung his careless gaze over to the store that Tucker had so elegantly pointed out.

It appeared to look hastily set out. There were miscellaneous items and trinkets that looked slightly worn around their corners. Danny wasn't sure if that was done artificially or not, yet it still had an interesting number of things to sell. But as he studied it further, it occurred to him that there weren't a lot of people browsing in there.

"Danny doesn't want to look there, Tuck. That's a second hand store!" Sam said, having taken a look to the sign hanging over the shop rather than looking into it.

'Monty's Used Second Hand'. Under that, the initials of the store read out 'M.U.S.H'. Danny felt one side of his lip twitch with humor.

"What's wrong with second hand? And besides, these stores only stay until someone else rents out their slice of the mall." Tucker looked indignantly over at Sam, who appeared skeptical about the entire idea of buying presents that were slightly used.

"I say we take a look." Tucker said, directing his statement more to Danny than Sam.

"Half of the stuff there is broken- which is probably why they're being sold. Do you really think that Danny's parents would like something broken as a Christmas present?" Sam said, casting a slight glare towards Tucker.

"Not everything is broken, and maybe if something in there is broken- Danny's Dad would probably have some fun trying to fix it…"

"Oh-Yeah, right before he turns it into an ecto-blasting instrument with automatic self destruct…"

Sam normally found Tucker's tendency of being cheap somewhat annoying. But she rarely does complain about it since her family isn't lacking much in the money department. This was one of those rare moments. Speaking of which… Danny dipped his hand into his back pocket to pull out his wallet while Sam and Tucker duked-out their polar opposites with each other. Danny wedged his thumb between the pleather folds of his wallet to get a better look in it.

That book of psychology certainly did cost a lot. And with the remote amount of money that Danny had left, he knew he couldn't possibly buy something vaguely good in an average store. Danny looked at the thrift-shop one more time and then blew out a sign.

"I'm telling you, everything in there is probably worthless junk!"

"One man's trash is another man's treasure."

"What are you trying to insinuate-"

"Uh-hum… As much as I like you guys coming to help me find something for my parents… I think it would easier to at least look rather than argue all day." Sam froze stiffly- and Tucker soon followed as he looked over at Danny's warm smile. Instantly, their moods settled. It was always good to have three people around. Two to fight and the other one to break them up. Usually it's Sam who does the breaking up, but this time it was Danny- who looked slightly proud of that. But he knew that wasn't going to last with the next thing that he was going to say.

"I'm going to check out that store…I think my Dad might like to find something to clean up… and if he does make something radioactive, I'm sure we'll be able to get out of it unscathed." Danny said jokingly while quietly hushing the small voice in the back of his mind that was serious.

Sam looked disappointed and ready to object, but Danny merely cast his blue eyes at her, making her hold back her objections for now.

"I'm only taking a look anyways… Maybe I won't find anything there for my dad." Danny said, smiling.

"Sure…" Sam said, shrugging her shoulders and sliding aside the feelings of defeat with an equally bright smile. "Well let's get going! Christmas isn't going to wait for you."

With that, the three friends made their way into the shop. Sam distantly loomed around the front, taking a look at the number of used clothes that were hung on a rack. Tucker departed from Danny's side midway into the store as soon as he detected a used electronics part of the shop. Danny, on the other hand, went to the uncategorized items deep into the back of the store. Many of the items there appeared to be made of metal or wood, or gently used furniture.

Most of what Sam had said was indeed true. While he scrounged through a series of items Danny could only find damaged things that really weren't worth repairing. And the things that did look interesting or worth buying didn't suit either Jack or Maddie. There was a chandelier that was missing two candle holders… metal key hooks with some of the hooks missing… a sturdy hawk headed-cane with cracks running down the wood… a wobbly black night stand… rusted bust of a roman emperor… Actually Danny considered the idea of getting the bust for his Dad, but he soon concluded that his Dad wouldn't like it unless it looked like him.

Rows upon rows of junk that could only be considered worthwhile if you had an artistic eye were scattered through the back. Danny was sure he didn't have an artistic eye, because he sure as hell didn't find anything that sparked his interest there.

That was, at least, until he had retired back into the cushions of a worn out plaid comfort chair that Danny felt something jabbing into his thigh from under the cushion.

"Owe." Danny winced and lifted himself up to see what exactly had irritated him. He looked down and noticed an odd angle in the cushion.

"That can't be a spring…" Danny said, squinting down at it. No wonder no one wanted be buy this chair. It looked ugly and it hurt. Another thought occurred to Danny and reached down to remove the cushion from the chair. There he found something that looked like it had been lost since the seventies.

It was a purple stainless steel lava lamp.

Frowning for the sake of being curious and contemplative, Danny picked up the lamp to get a better look at it while indifferently pushing the cushion back in place on the chair. The Lamp had itself a tint of purple that swirled inside of it. The goop that would normally float about in it had settled to the bottom- with a little at the top- looking morbid and uninteresting. Danny knew the lamp had to be heated before the goop could start moving. As of now, it just looked like an unused lava lamp, waiting to be plugged in. But there was no connection cord.

Further investigation lead Danny to think that the lava lamp was self powered, and maybe by sunlight due to its reflective cover. Surely that was the answer- especially seeing that there were no on or off switch on the foundation of it. Before Danny could try seeing what kind of light bulbs that the lamp used, he felt a hand land on his shoulder.

"Are you planning to get that for your Dad?" Danny heard Tucker speak up. Danny nimbly shrugged his shoulder where Tucker's hand lingered while quietly letting his nerves settle from their short surprise. For a moment there, he thought someone like the shop owner was checking on him to see if he wasn't trying to pocket any of this junk.

Danny let his ridged shoulders relax before he put his attention back to the purple lava lamp. Tucker's words brought back the memories of seeing his mother and father dressed up in their old school-hip clothing. Danny shuddered. The lamp almost looked like something that his Dad would lug around when trying to relish his old fashion statement before the orange jumpsuit came into style.

"Yeah… I guess so. And if my dad doesn't like it, I can keep it." Danny said, shrugging his shoulders. Hey, it was neat… in an out-of-date kind of way. And it was only going to cost him maybe three bucks.

It actually came up to four dollars when Danny bought it, but it was a small price to pay seeing that the Lava lamp did indeed look brand new- save for the dust that collected on it.

As Danny and Tucker made their way out of the shop, lava lamp placed aside in a grocery bag next to Jazz's gift, Danny noticed Sam was patiently waiting for them, with a new shopping bags that appeared to be carrying a number of used clothing. Sam paused and noticed the looks on both Danny and Tucker's faces and scowled briefly.

"What? They have their uses…"

----

Upon departure from the mall, Sam and Tucker began to quarrel over the uses of used clothing and the difference between second hand and new. But it didn't last long when Tucker's cell phone rang with his father on the other end, insisting that he should be home in ten minutes to help with the last traditional Christmas decorations.

Tucker took his direction home and parted from both Sam and Danny, leaving the two to continue on their way home before Sam soon divided from Danny to head to her house. They exchanged wishes of good luck and waved good bye and went to go their alternative ways. It was at that point while Danny quietly walked down the sidewalk past Amity Park's suburban recreational area that he noticed an odd purple glow emitting from his shopping bag.

"Huh..?"

Danny furrowed his brows and looked down into his bags to see that the lava lamp was turned on. Danny picked up the lamp while placing his grocery bag down at his feet to take a good look at it. Fortunately, there was no one around on this cold December day to witness him observing the strange lava lamp.

"Hm…I must have been right… solar power." Danny said, looking at the lamp and then to the sun that glared down at Amity Park- failing to keep it warm. In the light of the outdoors, Danny had a better look at the lamp, and noticed there were signs of wear in the form of faint scratches on the surface of the lamp. If he squinted his eyes, he would notice the highlights of word around the rim, but he couldn't make it out. Danny brought his hand up to the side of the lamp and rubbed his fingers over the lamp to check if they were just marks.

Nope, they were scratches… But that wasn't the only thing that Danny discovered the moment he had ran his digits over the simple object. As soon as he retracted his hand, the lamp twitched and a spurt of eerie soft purple smoke erupted from the top of the lamp.

Danny leapt backwards and released the lamp. Instead of expecting it to fall onto the ground as Danny had suspected, it remained suspended in the air while the purple mist began to change color as it continued to flow rapidly out from the lamp. Soon it was pale baby blue.

Danny's eyes grew wide, but he held his ground. Hey, being a ghost hunter has taught Danny not to flee- especially seeing as whatever that was coming out of that lamp was possibly something related to a ghost. Come to think of it- hadn't he seen this happen before?

Before Danny could question the strange phenomenon any further, the spectral gas took a shape.

"Oh man, two years, one hundred and-eighty-some butts later, and I'm greeted with cold weather… What a country." Danny looked up to see a shivering looking ghost, clad in a blue sleeveless tux down to his waist were a gold band securely wrapped around his hips. His head was bowed close to his chest to preserve what little warmth he had. His crown was covered with raven curls- some of which that were pulled back into another gold band that matched the one on his waist. His teeth were chattering slightly and just around his chin there was a growth of well groomed facial hair in the form of a goatee. He wore a pair of shades that slid down on the bridge of his nose and let his eyes peek out over them. Below his waist was a spectral tail- similar to that of Danny Phantom's, and even a few other ghosts that he has seen. Danny brows knitted together.

This guy was definitely a ghost.

"I'm going ghost!" Danny said, and as he did so, two rings appeared around his waist. The next moment, Danny's hair was a startling white and his winter clothing had disappeared- only to be replaced by his black and white jumpsuit. The ghost raised a brow curiously as he witnessed this.

"Whoa… You might want to do something about that hair… It might start falling out next."

Danny frowned, but didn't bother to respond as he jumped into action. He darted forward at the ghost, attempting to land a blow with an out-stretched leg to the ghost's jaw.

The ghost dodged it by ducking, looking more surprised than irritated.

"Hey now! Is this how you usually greet people?" The ghost said, just in the process of avoiding another well aimed swing.

Danny smirked challengingly. "Only the ones I don't like." Danny said and attempted another swing with his leg as he flew up into the air. But before it could connect, he felt his small foot get caught by a tanned hand.

"Two words for you, kid…. Social skills." The ghost said with a smarmy grin. Danny hanged upside down by one leg and scowled darkly.

"Let go!" He said, and before the ghost could answer, he shot an ecto-blast at the being's waist. The nameless ghost released Danny quickly enough while his agile tail swirled to the left to dodge the attack. Danny flew backwards out of grasp, his hands radiating with spectral energy.

"And I thought your hair was bad… Are you going to do something about those hands? Oh-oh, I know!… You also have anger issues… Your mom forgot the day of your birthday?" The ghost jibbed with a grin. Danny felt one of his eyebrows twitch. Normally he was the one tossing out witty quips at his opponents. Now he decided that he didn't really like it. Danny raised his hands and tossed a series of ecto-blasts in the ghost's directions. The ghost dodged them, and each time he made a comment.

"Zing!"

"Oh, so close!"

"Are you sure you're trying to hit me?"

"Ever think of glasses?"

"No really, shorty- is there a target I'm not seeing?"

At the last one, Danny's temper had reached his ears- which had turned a shade of red as he glared at the ghost. Besides dodging all of his attacks so far, this ghost had even managed to criticize his height and call him a 'kid' at the same time. "I don't know who you are, but I want you out of here." Danny said finally, and flew at the ghost with the intent of slamming into him, elbow and shoulder first- but just before he was going to collide to the ghost, he saw the spectral being snap his fingers and Danny struck something hard, cold, and made of iron bars.

Making a sound of aggravation, Danny flew backwards to recover from what just happened, and thus smacked the back of his head against another set of iron bars. Quickly, Danny registered that he was now floating within a large domed shaped cage.

"What the-?" Danny said, looking amazed for a moment while trying to think exactly where the cage had come from. In the mean time, the tanned ghost appeared to be finding more interest in this nails. Danny's lips curled into a defiant grin.

"Nice try…" Danny's said while his body turned intangible. "But I can-"

Smack.

Danny's head hit the top of the large bird cage. His intangibility failed and one of his gloved hands quickly rose to his head to rub at his sore skull.

"Oh tell me! Were you about to say 'phase through solid objects'?"

Danny scrunched up his nose in disgust and floated in the confides of the cage, glaring out at his captor. How the hell could he make a ghost-proof cage materialize in mid air? The only ghost he knew that could make something like that possibly happen was Desiree. And that's if someone wished for it to happen- which usually turns out to be a really bad idea.

Seeing that the ghost boy was bitterly silent, the supposed ghost cleared his throat while he snapped his fingers. A matching blue winter jacket appeared over his broad shoulders, covering his built arms. He snapped his fingers again and a cup of hot coco materialized in one of his hands.

"Well now that I've stopped you from buzzing around, I'm going to tell you who I am." The ghost said, looking at Danny over his dark sun glasses, grinning from ear to ear.

"I…" He paused for a moment to gain suspense, "…Am Norm, the genie!" He raised one of his hands and snapped his thumb and index fingers together. A large neon light-animated sign appeared in a puff of smoke behind the genie and blared out the name 'NORM' which eventually turned to 'ORM' when the 'N' shorted out. Norm took a sip from his hot coco and grinned.

Danny stared blankly- looking unimpressed. Norm's grin faltered as he noticed Danny stand, floating in the air, with his arms folded in front of his chest.

"What? You need some kind of parade to go with this?" He said, slumping forward and snapping his fingers again to make the large sign with his name vanish. "Common! I'm a Geeenie, you know what that is, right?"

"Big deal," Danny said as he shrugged his shoulders, "You grant wishes to anyone." Danny was beginning to figure that 'Norm' was just another ghost like Desiree. In other words, Danny was already figuring out that Norm was nothing but a big load of trouble.

"Uh… well… Technically-"

"And all of your wishes have this weird ghost thing to do with them and cause all sorts of trouble." Danny said, glaring out at Norm from his cage. Danny smirked slowly as he noticed Norm's surprised look on his face. But Danny smirk didn't last when he saw Norm burst out laughing seconds later.

"Oh you're rich, kid! Really- I haven't laughed like this since-oh… let's see… Ever!" He held his side and continued to chuckle while he calmed himself down, wiping a tear from his eye, and grinned.

Danny stared and one of his eyebrows slowly began to rise.

"You're mistaking me for some other genie that is DEAD." He snickered. Danny blinked and squinted unsurely at the ghost while trying to figure out what the difference was between a dead genie and a living one. He couldn't find an answer, so he asked, reluctantly.

"Well, what's the difference between a dead Genie and one living then?" He asked. Norm looked at Danny inquisitively while he went to take another sip from his mug of coco.

"Good question. Possibly the brightest thing I've heard from you yet. Maybe you'll surprise me with something else later…" Danny glared, and Norm smirked, then continued. "Besides not actually being- you know- dead and all, I'm alive… and the differences between a dead genie and me is 1. I don't grant wishes to every one I see… I'm not a wish-whore…not like a certain other genie." That last bit of his sentences was uttered more to himself, but Danny picked up on it and stared at him curiously. He carried on.

"Number 2. Anything you wish for does not- keyword: 'not'- turn into a screwed up ghost experiment… That has something to do with being, oh, dead! And thirdly, I only grant three wishes only to the person who rubbed my lamp. Ergo, you." At that, Norm pointed accusingly towards Danny while he took another idle drink from his cooling hot coco.

"I am, in other words, under your complete control, unlike a dead one, which is… obviously, not." Norm said, with a hint of boredom.

"Okay…" Danny said slowly, trying to let this all sink in. It seemed to become apparent that Danny wasn't planning to attack again, and Norm snapped his fingers and the bird cage disappeared while he finished his drink. Danny sank to the ground, giving the genie a distrusting look.

Danny didn't trust this Norm guy at all. Besides noticing the skeptical looks that he constantly throws at him, Norm was a genie and that was something definitely outside the 'normal' boundaries for Danny. Anything that crossed those boundaries weren't to be trusted. Two years of dealing with things outside of the 'normal' boundaries has taught Daniel enough about the strange and unknown to not take lightly of any of them… except maybe the box ghost.

But Norm did say that he was under Danny's complete control… The ghost boy thought about this while he took his human form once his feet were planted firmly on the sidewalk.

Norm presently was waiting for Danny to react.

Unlike everything else that was outside Danny's 'normal' boundaries, Norm was a controlled variable… And it's only three wishes. Surely after that, Danny wouldn't have to see Norm ever again.

"You know… as much as I like being out and about- isn't there some place you would more rather be right now?" Norm asked as he stared down at Danny.

Danny frowned. "Why don't you just leave, then?" he said as he found the genie's comments less than necessary.

"I wouldn't be talking to you right now if I could." Norm stated bluntly as he folded his arms before his chest.

"Fine…" Danny growled. "How can I get rid of you?"

"Oh, this is the good part! You see, once you've made your three wishes, the nearest magical force gets sucked into the lamp… which is me!" He said- acting out a series of gestures while he smirked. Danny could tell his enthusiasm was really sarcasm.

Danny took a moment to look at the lamp which had presently resided on the sidewalk at his feet. He stooped down and picked up the old lava lamp and noticed the warmth of its glow against his fingers. Purple liquid swished about in the lamp calmly. Danny bit his lower lip as he looked from the lamp to the genie that had resided within it.

"I make three simple wishes, and you'll be stuck in the lamp again?" Danny asked while trying to think of the best thing he could do to get rid of this genie.

"Do you have hearing problems? Three wishes; and then I'm gone." He snapped his fingers and disappeared in a puff of smoke. Danny heard another snapping sound, and Norm appeared again only a few feet away from where he was. "Just like that."

Danny knew there was one problem with this. He didn't trust this genie- just as he would have never trusted Desiree with granting one of his wishes. It would just explode in his face. But the only way for him to get rid of Norm was to make three wishes… And what if he was lying? If Danny tried wishing for something, he might have to spend the rest of the day cleaning up the mess.

Wish for something easy.

"All right…" Danny said, giving the genie an odd look. "I wish…" Norm eyes flickered with anticipation from behind his dark shades. Danny looked unsure, but then smiled. This wish couldn't possibly hurt asking. "…to have the perfect gift for my mom for Christmas."

Norm snapped his fingers.

The next thing, Danny saw darkness.

"What the-?!" Danny attempted to move, but found his feet were tied together. He could hear his voice, but it sounded as though it was muffled and he could feel the warmth of his breath close to his cheek. But it was still cold around him. Danny tried to move, but instead, he seemed to loose balance and fall backwards. He felt himself land onto the surface of the sidewalk. He heard the sound of paper crinkle close to ears while he landed onto his side and shoulder. Beneath the sound of paper crinkling, he could hear Norm laughing loudly.

"Wow, and I thought you were strange. Does your mom have control issues?" He could hear Norm say. Danny struggled furiously to sit up- while he did, he was able to gain some vision. Whatever was covering his eyes had moved enough in his efforts so that he could see Norm, curled into himself, chuckling.

Before Danny could understand why, he looked down and opened his mouth in surprise. He went to take a breath of air- but found Christmas wrapping pressed against his mouth. Danny was wrapped up with red and green wrapping paper and his feet were tied together with a large red ribbon.

Norm was still stifling his snickers while Danny pulled his arms free and began to rip away the wrapping from his face, chest and legs. As he did so, he realized that his hands were gloved in white- and as soon as he removed the wrapping from his face, he saw strands of white ghostly pale hair fleck down over his vision.

He was in his ghost form.

"Oh, I guess I should have warned you… be careful what you wish for, shorty." Norm said, grinning down at Danny as he pulled the ribbon around his ankles apart and reverted to his human form again.

"I didn't wish for me to be wrapped up like a present!" Danny exclaimed while he bundled the paper up in his hands.

"You should be more specific. I had no clue what your mother would like Christmas." Norm grinned. "That was your fault."

Danny glared up at Norm bitterly. But as he did, it slowly came to him that the most perfect gift that Danny could ever give his mother was the notorious ghost boy of Amity Park, Danny Phantom.

"I'll keep that in mind next time…" Danny said with a hint of a growl as he looked around himself after freeing himself off the Christmas wrapping. The lava lamp was sitting once again next to his feet, along with his shopping bag with Jazz's gift sitting in it. Danny pulled himself up onto his feet, picked up the lamp and shoved it into the shopping bag. "But that won't be until I know what to wish for." He said reluctantly. Norm seemed to deflate a little.

"Oh come on, this is fun! Try it again, really!"

Danny ignored Norm while he started his way to his home. Norm hanged over Danny for most of the way, quietly nagging him to make another wish to humor him; but Danny continued to ignore him. And to Danny's favor, Norm had snapped his fingered and disappeared.

Or at least, he thought he did. However, Danny could hear Norm's voice close to his ear in the form of a small voice. A short panicked jump later, Danny discovered that Norm had taken the form of a small blue mouse and was sitting on his shoulder.

"What?" Norm said, trying to hide the humor in his voice. "Can't have other people screaming 'ghost' like you did." Norm squeaked and chattered his large rodent teeth together. Danny grimaced, wishing quietly to himself that he had never found that lava lamp. Maybe he'll try wishing for that next… But for now, Danny didn't want to risk trying it.

Instead, Danny much preferred to get home for dinner and prepare for the last work day at school. Christmas Holidays have certainly become a lot shorter than they use to. Danny for one had two tests on the last day, which was tomorrow. Mr. Lancer had insisted that his students would forget what they learned over their Christmas break if they didn't have a test.

He was glad to see that Norm had some how figured that sitting on his shoulder was going to be a bad idea when Danny had reached his home, and slipped into the shopping bag quietly. First, Danny thought, he was going to put this irritating genie somewhere out of sight. And then he'll pretend that he never existed until tomorrow.

He had too many things on his mind to bother thinking about a genie that was- Danny guessed- typically harmless. He still had to find the right gift for his mother, and his father now. There was no way that Danny was ever going to hand Jack a genie in a lava lamp. Aside from it being possibly the most idiotic thing that he could do, Danny wanted to keep this genie from doing something deranged and stupid to an unsuspecting lamp-lover.

So as soon as he had gotten into his room, Danny placed the lamp under his bed. Norm appeared to find an objection with these arrangements, but Danny frankly didn't care and later retreated downstairs after wrapping his sisters present.

----

Norm sulked quietly to himself on the bed of his new master's room. He knew he didn't have to sulk, but it was the fact that he had to wait until the odd ghost boy thought up of another funny- and extraordinarily easy- wish. Time was everything to Norm.

Being stuck in a lamp all his immortal life had an effect on a genie. Now Norm knows of other genies. But the only ones he has known were ones stuck in other odd contraptions, similar to his own.

Oh, there was one regrettable encounter with that genie without a lamp. Norm hunched his shoulders up slightly at the thought. It wasn't a pleasant memory. He truly didn't like that genie. It wasn't just because he was jealous that she was free from her lamp- but she also was dead, and that made Norm very much afraid.

Even he didn't know exactly how to die. Genies just don't die. Not like a human. He could have his head severed and kick it around if he had the feet to do so. He could survive without air for goodness sake! Norm was immortal, and damn proud of it.

But it was the fact that Norm had actually seen a dead genie before that made his skin crawl. It was living- or dead- proof that he could actually die.

Nevertheless, Norm has never found out what exactly is it that kills a genie, and hopefully plans to never find out. He didn't even want to be reminded about the possibility of dieing… yet this ghost boy and his spectral tail knew about a dead genie.

Could it possibly be the same one? Norm shook his head. Surely not.

While he sat there, elbows on his make-shift knees and palms supporting his head, he observed the casual sway of his tail, wandering vaguely under his master's bed to the cursed lamp.

As Norm watched this, he patiently thought about his new master. A scrawny little teen boy with the powers of a ghost. What an odd find… Almost as rare as finding a genie under a second-hand chair. The kid was funny to poke humor at- but it was all the same to Norm. Once he's had his hellish three wishes, he'll be trapped inside that lamp for another decade.

He couldn't get free from his cursed purple lava lamp unless he found something else to replace him. But there was nothing around that he could see as a suitable replacement… No boring little pixies, or half baked fairies… Just a precautious little ghost boy.

A thought sprung inside of Norm's skull and his lips parted into a mischievous grin.

This new master could hold a bit more opportunity for Norm other than just a good laugh…

----

To be continued…

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	2. Chapter 2

Thank you **Tevagirl** for the review, and I'm really glad to know that you like this story. I hope others will too.

I'm going to try shortening the next chapters… Eh, there just so much to write and I just don't know where the best place is to stop. You probably noticed that in the first chapter.

Chapter two, Danny in a bottle.

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Last night had flown by like a dream… a very long and boring dream. After dinner, Danny had sluggishly retreated up to his room to prep for two tests that he was anything but ready to prepare for. And all through the evening, Danny thoughts had been constantly interrupted with what he was going to do with his annoying two wishes from Norm.

Sadly, every time Danny played out his wishes, he could see Norm some how molding it into a terrible mess. At one point, Jazz had caught Danny stare off in the distance during dinner and noticed how he occasionally winced or his lips would turn down in a grim frown.

Those two wishes weren't the only things that were giving Danny needles of anxiety. He still had two tests to worry about. With the two problems combined, Danny was becoming so distracted that he hadn't really noticed his parents stumble into an argument about the existence of Santa after dinner.

If he wished that his two tests were cancelled, Danny pictured the school having a freak outbreak of the black plague. If he wished that he aced the test, he could see himself sitting in a detention hall for somehow being caught cheating. All of these contradicting thoughts were beginning to burn a hole in young Danny's head, so he put off his decisions for wish-making until after school ended.

Strangely enough, Danny had expected to see Norm up in his room, idly criticizing everything he owned- but as soon as Danny returned to his room to study, there were no signs of a sarcastic genie looming in the air. Just the soft eerie glow from the light purple lava lamp reminded Danny that he still had to deal with this problematic genie.

Out of frustration, Danny had placed a pillow over the lamp from under his bed. Satisfied that he no longer could see the glow, Danny dressed into his night garments, propped his notes and text books onto his small work desk, and reached over to flick on the small over head light above it.

Morning came to soon when the rays of light reached Danny's sealed shut eyes. He had literally fallen to sleep in the middle of studying and his head was resting on the surface of numerous sheets of paper with notes on them. After a moment, Danny merely eased his eyes open slowly and frowned while he registered his current position.

Oh well… Sleep in for five more minutes… Danny yawned, feeling an ache in his back. But there was a confident smile on his face. He studied till he knocked off to sleep! Surely that was a good sign that he might be able to get at least an A minus on his tests…

Now what was he studying again…? Danny's brows furrowed.

Danny took his time to recap his study patiently while he let his eyes flutter close again. A moment later, Danny's eyes snapped open.

What time was it?

Abruptly, Danny darted his eyes around himself hurriedly while he pulled his head up from the desk. A piece of paper stuck to the side of his cheek- but Danny didn't pay it much attention as his eyes flashed to his clock.

It blinked 8: 53 calmly.

"Oh come on!" Danny sat bolt upright and nearly tripped over the chair behind him as he scrambled to remove his P-J top and retrieve one of his white and red t-shirts. "It just has to be the last day of school, and I'm more than an hour late!" Danny growled to himself.

"Why didn't the alarm go off?" Danny found himself saying while he took another glance at his clock as he went to retrieve his belongings and toss them into his book bag. His alarm clock was always set to go off at seven.

"Oh jeeze..." It had taken him another minute to complain and get half way changed. He wasn't going to get to school in time- and Danny certainly knew that he didn't want to spend another thirty more minutes after school with the 'usual' students that were tardy.

"I wish I was at school right now." Danny said carelessly as he feverishly went to remove his P-J pants before he realized what he had just done.

There was a small sound of someone snapping their fingers. Danny didn't have time to even spin around and look at the pillow from under his bed that silenced the soft purple glow from an annoying purple lava lamp.

The next moment, he was staring at a school locker door, a few inches from his nose. The sounds of normal everyday students moved too and fro casually- until someone noticed that Danny was partially clad in his P-J pants. Danny had- seconds ago- been in the process of removing them, but now he was sheepishly pulling his leg back into his pants and blushing angrily. A number of recognizable faces began to murmur, stare, or and grin at Daniel's strange fashion statement.

Lucky for Danny, there weren't as many students around to taunt him as he quietly began to make his way to his locker in his bare feet. He slouched a little- but it didn't do much good to hide the fact that he was now in school, wearing half of his pajamas. Now, normally- a girl wore pajamas now and then, and it was considered 'cool' and 'daring'. But from what Danny could see- a guy trying out that fashion statement is the equivalent to walking around shirtless with a bra on.

At least he didn't have to worry about anyone confronting him in the halls. The stragglers were already darting into their first classes- something that Danny certainly knew he had to do- even if he was… oddly dressed.

Once he reached his locker, Danny hastily phased his hand through the door while mentally cursing Norm with every possible profane phrase he could think of- and a few he made up as well. All of his books were still sitting at home- along with his lovely pair of jeans, socks, and sneakers. Instead, Danny hurriedly went to putting on his gym shoes from his locker. It was then that the young Danny raised his head to the sound of the second bell which indicated students to be in class.

Danny was officially late… Go figure.

"It's a little bit cold to be wearing flannel pajamas at school, Mr. Fenton…" was the first thing that came out of Lancer's mouth as soon as Danny stepped foot into the classroom. Danny was slightly surprised- in a sarcastic way. He had expected Mr. Lancer to bluntly point out that he was less than a minute late for class. But no matter, Danny was hoping that due to his odd attire, Mr. Lancer would have forgotten the fact that he was the last person to step into the class room and bashfully take his seat.

"I'll be seeing you after class, Mr. Fenton." The teacher said with a hint of mild disappointment. Danny suppressed the need to whine and stubbornly sat into his seat wordlessly and prepared to finish the school day without uttering a word- and then return home to get rid of an annoying genie.

Sam and Tucker appeared to be inquisitive upon Danny's weird fashion statement, but Danny felt far to irritated to explain, so merely answered their questions at recess with 'Just another ghost problem.' It wasn't true- but it was reasonable enough for Sam and Tucker to understand Danny's misfortune, and pity him… mostly. Tucker couldn't help but chuckle now and then when the nearest pajama joke was thrown across the lunch room. It wasn't very funny- but knowing Tuck, he was only amused with seeing Danny react to the tiniest insult.

To Danny's further horror, he found that his tests weren't anything but easy. Studying had nothing on getting good grades in Mr. Lancer's classes. It had almost been as though everything he had studied overnight had been siphoned out from his head. Grudgingly, Danny had a sneaking suspicion that he was going to get a few more disappointing marks for the Fenton family.

By the end of the school day, Danny was fidgeting in his seat as the bell rang. Obediently, he wanted to listen to yet another one of Mr. Lancer's motivational lectures. Danny pretended to act like he truly understood the importance of a first appearance, and being on time. Despite the fact that he was already aware of their importance, Danny acted as though he had been inspired- that way it kept his teacher from pulling out his photo of his sister and gave Danny a better chance of being let go early.

It worked, and Danny had five minutes more to return home and get rid of Norm. Even while he jogged outside in his gym shoes, Danny was already generating the plan to taking care of Norm. And once he's gone, he can forget that there was ever such thing as an annoying genie called Norm and live as normally as he could- sorta.

No sooner had Danny checked to see if he was out of range from prying eyes that he took his ghostly form and darted home. The only thing fortunate about this day was that Danny knew his parents would be too busy publicly disputing about the existence of Santa Claus to be at home. With them away, no one would notice the notorious ghost boy, Danny Phantom, phase through their front doors and head up to Danny Fenton's room.

Danny reached and phased through his bedroom door and spotted no one. His room was empty of the genie and lamp entirely. For a fleeting moment, Danny assumed that Norm was gone- which would have been briefly disappointing since the boy was itching to hit the genie for granting his second wish.

Just as Danny was about to start looking around in case Norm was somehow hiding when he heard a whistling sound from downstairs. Danny paused thoughtfully and quietly phased through the floor to poke his head out from the ceiling of the kitchen.

The first thing he noticed was the scent of scrambled eggs.

"Well hey there! Have a good time at school?"

Norm was 'floating' at the side of the stove, frying pan in one hand, and spatula in the other. He had turned his head to look up at the Danny with an innocent tanned smile. Danny scowled angrily, but vague surprise was keeping him from growling at the genie. One glance towards the frying pan, and Danny could see that Norm was cooking an omelet.

Danny paused and furrowed his brow in confusion. Now why the hell would a genie actually 'make' an omelet? Danny shook his head. He could question that later. It was time to be angry, not confused.

"Horrible, no thanks to you." Danny said as he floated down though the ceiling, but remained within the air.

"Hey, you made the wish-"

"I know I wished that! It was figuratively thinking out loud!" Danny growled.

Norm used the spatula to flip the omelet in the pan. It sizzled with the butter that bubbled in the side of the pan. The genie didn't appear to be worried about Danny's bad mood.

Furious, Danny found himself being beaten by silence. He had been expecting and defensive comeback, yet Norm appeared to be more interested with spooning his omelet up and plopping it onto a clean plate. Danny noticed while Norm turned, he was wearing a cliché white cook's apron. Only, unlike most of the aprons that say 'kiss the cook' this one said 'don't kiss me... you probably have mono.'

Not far from Norm, his lava lamp sat on the kitchen table humbly.

"Why are you making omelets when you can just snap your fingers and make some appear?" Danny said, sighing and he clenched and relaxed his fists slowly.

Norm smiled delightfully.

"It tastes better."

Danny raised his gloved hand to his forehead and slapped it irritably. Somehow, all of this genie's illogical actions were bothering him. He had thought for a moment that there would have been more of a reason than just 'it tastes better' but that was it. No mystery… Norm was a genie! Wasn't he supposed to be mysterious and old? Better yet, wasn't he supposed to grant 'good' wishes?

Danny shook his head quickly. Enough distracting thoughts, he had a wish to make, and knew this one, without an undeniable doubt, that nothing could go wrong.

"All right… 'Norm'…" Danny said, finding that even the name sounded… well… normal-ish. The Genie raised his head to attention. He had already switched from spatula and pan to plate and fork. One hand presently held his meal, and the other was half raised, holding a fork with a bit of omelet on the end of it.

Danny waited for a moment to see if Norm looked like he was planning to somehow mess up his last wish. Norm raised a brow, looking curious.

"I wish you were gone!" Danny blurted out furiously. Danny clenched his eyes shut for the foreboding fear that something terrible might happen.

The next thing, Danny could hear the dinning utensil being held by Norm clatter onto the floor. Danny peeked open one of his eyes to look at what could be happening. Was he gone…?

Norm was still there. But he looked surprised. More than surprised… he looked… shocked? Did Danny wish for something horrible for even Norm?

"Oh, could this be any easier!?" Norm said out loud.

Never mind.

Danny was sure that Norm hadn't said that specifically to him, but he could see that Norm's shock had adjusted to exuberant joy. The omelet forgotten, Norm placed his plate onto the counter, and went to snatch up his own lamp.

Danny floated in the air, now staring at Norm unsurely.

"Uh… Why aren't you gone?"

"Hold on, hold on, shorty… You'll get your wish… I'm just testing something."

Danny watched Norm oddly while he raised both of his hands. One of them was ready to snap their fingers, and the other was loosely holding onto the lamp. Danny arched a brow irritably. Enough with this waiting! He had made a wish- and once Norm was stuck in that lamp, Danny was going to phase it thirty feet underground. Then he laughed at it!

"Um, I wish you were gone? Hello-?"

Norm tossed the lamp at Danny. No, let me correct that, he tossed the lamp at Danny in such way that could have injured his head. Instinctively, the ghost boy raised his hands and caught it before it could collide with his forehead.

"Hey! What was that-?" Norm interrupted Danny with a crisp snap of his fingers.

"Your wish is granted!" Norm said, and closed his eyes and brought his hands over his head as though preparing to guard himself from an explosion. Danny was about to throw up his arms in frustration. Danny really didn't know what to think of this genie any more. Why was he doing tha…

Only in the process of thinking about how dumb Norm looked, Danny noticed that there was a tug of his ghostly tail. He blinked and turned around to look down at his tail. Frowning he noticed he was being pulled harder.

The next second there was a violent pull that flipped Danny around in the air. He lost grip of the lamp and the next moment, Danny saw the room spin around him. In prospective, Danny was aware that he was the one spinning. Before he could even try to pull away from whatever was throttling him, everything stopped and turned dark and Danny couldn't help but feel as though he a just been sucked through a large tube.

Danny groaned, his brain was spinning within his skull and causing Danny a lot of discomfort as he tried to get up to his feet. While he clutched his head, he could hear the distant sound of Norm's voice.

"Holy crap! It actually worked, what luck!" Norm exclaimed, making a victory gesture that Danny currently couldn't see.

Danny frowned, still feeling the aching throb of his skull weigh his head down as he tried to focus his eyes. At first he thought he saw darkness, but gradually the familiar kitchen began to come into existence once again. Only Danny noticed that everything was in a green tint, and he was low to the ground.

That's odd… Danny was sure that he was presently standing upright. Norm was looking down at him triumphantly.

"Well what do you know…? It works on stupid fairies and ghost-kids!" He said dryly.

Having no clue exactly what Norm meant with those words, Danny attempted to float up into the air to regain his elevation, but just as he did, his head hit the top of something seconds later. Wincing, Danny looked up to see something round and metallic was hovering over him. Grumbling, Danny when to step aside.

Smack. Danny walked into glass.

"What the-?!"

Norm was chuckling airily as he watched Danny recoil in frustration.

"You know when I said that once you've made three wishes the nearest magical force gets sucked up into the lamp?" Norm said, grinning.

Danny glowered at Norm coldly. Norm waited patiently to let Danny finally clue in on his current position. Norm mentally counted, and it took exactly 12.6 seconds for the young ghost boy to start panicking frantically. Danny whirled his gaze around him worriedly. He jumped to his right, then to his left and then tried to go intangible- but each time he smacked up against the side of round class.

"Ahh, you gotta hate Smoof." Norm said sympathetically as he folded his tanned arms in front of his chest.

Danny darted his gaze back up to Norm, looking even more flustered than ever. It then occurred to him that Norm was amused by Danny's futile antics.

"I- I can't be stuck in a lamp!" It wasn't possible! Danny shook his head, trying to figure out how this could be possibly happening. "I'm not magical! You said anything 'magical' gets sucked up into this lamp! Not ghostly!" Danny exclaimed furiously as he glared up at Norm.

The genie smiled and shrugged his shoulders. "I know! I didn't know if it'd work until I tried it out." Norm said, jeering slightly. Danny opened his mouth, but found nothing to say. He slapped his mouth shut again as he pressed up to the glass, looking up at Norm coldly.

The genie was grinning again- looking playful and dangerous at the same time.

"I thought it would have been harder to make you grant your last wish in your ghost form, but boy! You just made my experiment a lot easier. And look! It worked!" Norm twirled around in the air once, showing off the fact that he presently was not stuck inside of a lava lamp.

"But...! But I'm not a genie! I don't grant **wishes!**"

"Of course you're not a genie; I'd be insulted if you were. But- hey! I'm a nice guy, there's a guide book in there that'll help," Norm paused thoughtfully, "…maybe." he said as he stooped down to pick up the lamp casually. He gave the lamp a curious look as one side of his lips turned up in a crooked smile. As soon as Norm had touched the lamp, Danny felt a sudden odd sensation of feeling a large hand wrap around him delicately. Danny shivered. "As for granting wishes…" Norm brought his free hand up to his goatee and tugged on it gently. "Well you'll just have to explain that to the next person that rubs your lamp."

Norm placed the lava lamp down onto the kitchen table. Danny watched as the genie stepped away and snapped his fingers. In place of Norm's usual blue clothing and apron, he was clad in a red Canadian Mounty uniform from head to waist- topped with a brown official looking hat.

Danny gapped, still flustering over the idea that he was now stuck inside of a lava lamp and looking out through a green tint of liquid at a deranged genie that was dressed up as… a Canadian Mounty? Absently, Danny paused to remember that the lamp had been purple when Norm was in it.

"W-wait, what are you doing?" Danny said; pressing his head inches to the glass guard. Norm smirked victoriously.

"I'm granting your wish and going!"

Danny felt his stomach sink low into his torso. How could this be happening? Ignorant of Danny's crest fallen expression, Norm was adjusting his hat over his head in the reflection of the toaster on the kitchen counter. Once he was done, he cleared his throat and placed his hands on his hips

"Well! I'm off to Canada!"

"What? Why?" Danny said his brows knitting together. He failed to hide most of the panic in his voice and mentally cursed himself for it.

Norm glanced over to Danny, looking temporarily astonished that Danny didn't know why he was heading to Canada. Danny gave Norm an incredulous look.

"What? You don't know…?" He said blinking. Danny didn't have to answer; his expression was enough for the genie to understand. Norm's lips peeled back into an unpleasant smile. "They've had it good for too long." He said and then began to laugh; and this was no ordinary joking laugh, it was a menacing low laugh that involved tossing his head back and laughing evilly to the ceiling.

"Mwha ha ha haaa- ahh ha ha haa ha haa!"

Then it abruptly stopped, and Norm raised one of his hands to give Danny the thumbs up. "Chow! Time to cook me some Canuks." he said and left the kitchen, whistling cheerfully.

"Wait! You can't just leave me here!" Danny said. His last chance for getting out of this mess unhindered was walking out the front door. He could hear Norm call back as he opened the front door to Danny's home.

"I believe I just did!" And with that, Danny heard the sound of the door shutting and further whistling as it faded slowly away.

"Oh man…" Danny sank to the bottom of the lava lamp hopelessly. His shoulders slumped.

"I wish I was out of this mess…" He said gloomily.

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To be continued…

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**And I'm proud to be Canadian! Raise your beer my fellow comrades and chant the hockey anthem with me! Sorry, I'm stereotyping. But seeing as I am a Canadian, I am only saying this with good humor… Heh. Reviews are greatly encouraged. Thank you for taking your time reading!**


	3. Chapter 3

Heheh, thanks **Tevagirl**, for the suggestion, but I already have a few things in mind for this story.

I am gently disappointed with something; I'm not going to say what it is… But it's the feeling you get when you watch a stupid ninny take an empty picture frame, call it art, and gets millions of dollars for it while wonderful talented artists pour hours of effort over a painting and get five bucks for it. Things are simply unfair. I wish I could fix that, but I can't without insulting a good number of people. Enough about my thoughts, onto the story! For those of you that I 'think' are reading, enjoy!

Chapter Three, Christmas present.

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"Open sesame!"

"…"

"Abracadabra!"

"…"

"Pleaseandthankyou!"

"…"

"I hate my life…" Danny said tiredly as he looked out at the green tinted kitchen.

Two hours of fruitlessly battling against his confides had left Danny terribly exhausted and slightly injured. At one point, Danny had attempted the ghostly wail, but soon found that the glass reflected the attack backwards. That one attempt had not only wasted a good amount of his energy, but it also gave him the discovery that he can't change back into his human form.

Numerous attempts of intangibility and ecto-blasts later, Danny had done nothing but slowly stomped on what little hope he had to getting out. And now that he was out of energy and out of ideas, Danny resorted to trying to find some sort of phrase that might be able to let him out.

So far, no good and he was beginning to run out of famous magic words to say.

What's worse was that Danny knew his parents would be home any time now to find a lamp with a floating phantom sitting within it. That could only spell out disaster for Danny, and he was sure that the anxiety was going to chew him into pulp if his parents didn't dissect him first. Fortunately, after two hours, Danny was no longer feeling angsty about his premonitions.

Actually, he was feeling more depressed than anything else.

Yesterday he was fretting about buying Christmas presents, and now he was worried that he might be doomed to starve to death within a lava lamp. What a way to go. Danny had thought that maybe he would die in a battle against good and evil, but to die in a tacky old second hand lava lamp?

Danny shuddered wirily and frowned at himself. No, he wasn't going to give up! At least if he doesn't find a way out soon, his parents might let him go, and then he'd just have to figure out what to do after that.

For now, though, Danny had to find out how to get out before this opportunity was gone.

Ten minutes later of playing out countless methods for escape, Danny had failed to see any of them working and slumped his head forward dismally. How could he figure out a way to escape when he doesn't even know what he could do within this horrid lamp!

And then a thought struck him.

Literally.

He didn't think it would literally land on his head like that, but when he recalled Norm's last form of resentful advice, he had mentioned a guide book. Just like that, the book materialized in a puff of green smoke above him and landed square in the middle of his crown. Danny would have definitely taken this new form of information with eager fleeting joy…

But after being knocked on the head by it, Danny was looking at the book with venomous dislike. It wasn't a very light book at all either. In fact, it looked three times thicker than a phone book, and it was a hard cover too.

Damn that hurt.

Danny messaged the top of his head gingerly as he looked at the backside of the book in front of him. With some effort, Danny flipped it to the other side so he could see the front cover. The book looked old and slightly tattered. It must have originally been red, but the decades of weather had turned it brown. The title itself looked to be written in gold faded paint. It wasn't too hard to read the words, thankfully, but with the throb of yet another head ache growing; Danny leaned over it to get a better look.

"… 'Da guide… to being a Genie'" He looked below the title and noticed an authors name. "By…"

Danny's eyes widened. "D-Desiree?"

"Danny? We're home!" Danny jumped up and smacked the top of his head to the top of the lava lamp. Oh no… He had been so caught up reading the front cover of the book to realize that his parents and Jazz had stepped into the house. It was Jazz who had cheerfully announced their return, and Danny now shrank to the side of the lava lamp worriedly.

Jazz stepped into the kitchen first, her arms full with grocery bags. Following behind was Danny's mother and father, both holding their share of shopping bags and looking tight lipped. Apparently their yearly argument has gotten carried out of hand more than usual.

Danny silently begged to himself that Jazz might be the first person to spot him trapped within the stupid lava lamp, and to his great relief, her eyes strolled over to the lamp curiously.

_Yes, yes! She sees me! Now rescue me before any one else sees me and…_

"Dad, did you leave a lava lamp on the table?" Jazz asked as she glanced away indifferently to Jack Fenton. Danny's jaw dropped. What was wrong with her!? Couldn't she see Danny floating there within the green weird lava lamp hopelessly flailing his arms?

"Hm? I don't have a lava lamp…" Jack said perplexedly. Abruptly, Danny's vision was clouded with a black gloved hand that plucked him up. Danny made a small sound as he felt the odd sensation that an even larger hand gripped firmly around him. Danny felt terribly violated.

"It doesn't seem to be working though…" Jack said. Danny couldn't see, but he was sure that Jack was looking around to where the plug in was. From Danny's perspective, he couldn't tell if the very lava lamp that he was in was on or not.

_Please don't rub the lamp. Please don't rub the lamp. Please don't rube the lamp._

"Hey look! Omelet!"

He felt the lamp being carelessly released and placed back onto the dinning table. Vision returned to Danny as soon as Jack pulled his hand away. Staring out, Danny could see that Maddie was already busily putting away groceries while Jack had his back turned to Danny, probably hunched over the Omelet that Norm had left. Silently, Danny thanked his father for his short attention span.

But Jazz was still quietly looking at the lamp. Danny could read curiosity over her face. Danny wouldn't mind if Jazz had taken the lamp- she knew his secret, so nothing could ever be wrong with her discovering that he was now a temporary sad excuse for a genie. Unfortunately, Jazz had priorities and let her curiosity starve while she headed up upstairs to unload her newly bought items.

"Oh, Honey, are you sure that lamp isn't yours?" Danny head his mother's voice gently ask. Jack raised his head to glance over at the lamp.

"Yep. I've never seen that before." He said thoughtlessly. Maddie pursed her lips in an unconvinced manner.

"Maybe it's Danny's. Speaking of which, where is he?" Jack asked sketchily. Danny could tell that he was eating the omelet.

"Don't be silly, Jack..." Maddie said with a laugh as she moved across the kitchen to put away number of foods into the cupboards and fridge. "Danny wouldn't have a busted old lava lamp with him." She said knowingly. Danny snorted quietly as he begged to differ.

Jack shrugged as a sign of agreement. Then a rust old light bulb sparked to life within Jack's skull. "Maybe it's an early present from Santa!" He turned and went to pick of the lamp again for further inspection.

Danny yiped. But just before Jack's large hand sank down to pick up the lamp, it halted at the sound of Maddie's cross voice.

"Santa doesn't deliver gifts 'early', dear. Santa doesn't exist at all."

For once, Danny was very happy to hear his parents fold out into a prolonged and redundant argument about the existence of Santa. Jack's hand recoiled from the lamp, and both of his parents gradually carried their argument from the kitchen to the living room.

It was at that point in which Danny realized he had been holding his breath, and released a sigh as he lowered to the bottom of the lava lamp again. This relief didn't last long while Danny sat back impatiently, wondering when his family would begin to realize he was missing. Unfortunately, he knew his parents wouldn't become worried about him until after his curfew. In which case, Danny looked to the large book with reluctance.

He had some time to burn before someone finds out he was in this lamp. Hopefully it will be Jazz. In the mean time though, Danny squatted over the large guide book to being a genie and opened it to the first few pages. He might as well see if he can find a way out of this on his own, even though the chances were slim.

Danny flipped through the introduction and began to read.

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_So you are a genie. This wouldn't come to a big surprise to you as you are reading this book. Don't take this too badly. The life as a Genie is considerably good if you know how to spend your time inside and out of the container. This book also contains a good selection of past times that can be preformed in your own comforts of your lamp. _

_But before you find the need to preoccupy yourself, there are a number of rules about being a genie that you will most likely want to know about before someone disturbs you from your quiet time. Keep in mind that there are a good number of rules to know, judging from the size of this book that I have written, but don't feel worried; more than half of it is the past times._

_These rules will be categorized through their importance and further explains in separate chapters devoted to them. These categories are:_

_1. Wishes._

_2. Energy._

_3. Loopholes and Lawyers._

_4. Don't say anything unless you need to._

_5. Suck it up and get over it._

_Keep in mind that this book may have a large complied amount of information, but each Genie has a specific difference that…_

Danny stopped reading to look into the index and search for 'Loopholes'. To hell with advice to being a genie, Danny wasn't planning to stay as one long enough to 'suck it up and get over it.' Once he found the page number, he began to flip through the pages rapidly before he found the chapter.

Eventually, Danny had lost track of time as he skimmed through the chapter. Each paragraph Danny would grimace as he gathered no form of information to getting out. What he did learn was that Genies were very literal and specific. Desiree had even given examples of loopholes in wishes- some of which made Danny question the morals of most Genies. Before long, Danny had already lost his second wind of hope and was absently picking at the corner of the page as he looked through the chapter bleakly.

"Jack, I'm going to head to bed early. Will you stay up to see if Danny gets home soon?" Danny raised his head as he heard his name and looked out from his containment to watch as Maddie passed the entrance of the kitchen to head up stairs.

Soon following was Jack, but he changed his course of direction as he reached the kitchen entrance. He made an incoherent sound that could only be perceived as a 'yes.' He wandered idly over to the fridge to get himself a drink.

Maddie poked her head back through the kitchen door to look over at Jack's hulking form.

"Oh, and dear, you said you wanted me to remind you if you've finished buying gifts for everyone, so I'm reminding you." She said sweetly. "Good night."

Jack paused as he was about to pull out a carton of milk from the fridge. Judging from his look, Danny could tell that he had definitely forgotten to buy one of his Christmas gifts. Silently, Danny decided to blame his habit of being late on his father's side of the gene pool. Jack spun around, looking a bit anxious with his reminder. It was a pity that Danny's Mom had already disappeared upstairs and failed to witness Jack amble around the kitchen and think about what gift he could give to the possible person he forgot about.

Danny sat back and watched, wondering who it was exactly that his Dad had forgotten about.

While Jack was chewing on his lip in thought, his eyes settled onto Danny.

Oh no…

Jack paused, looking at the lava lamp as though it was the answers to his problem. Danny found himself recoil to the side of the lamp nervously.

"I'm sure he'll like it!" Jack burst out with a confident smile spreading across his face before he turned, and departed from the room. Danny could feel his heart beat quicken. Who was Jack talking about? And better yet, was he planning to do what Danny thought he was planning to do?

Yes.

A minute later, Danny's fears were assured as Jack returned with a cardboard box, a roll of tape, a Christmas card, and a marker. Jack then turned his back to the lava lamp as he leaned over to write something in the Christmas card. Danny attempted to crane his head and float to the top of the lava lamp to see what he was doing precisely, but it was useless to try seeing over that large body.

Jack then turned around to face the lava lamp. Danny uselessly shrank back to the farthest corner of the lamp. His father reached over, Danny shut his eyes, anticipating the odd feeling off a large hand grasping him.

But it didn't happen. Blinking, Danny waited a second or so longer for his fathers shadow to recede back. Once it did, Danny looked up to see Jack holding a small ordainment holiday fruit basket filled with holly, mistletoe, ruby red flowers, and candy canes. It was the kitchen table ornament.

Phew…

Danny could have fainted the instant he felt a wash of relief spread across his shoulders. Fortunately, he didn't.

Jack turned away to gingerly place the small basket into the cardboard box. Danny sat back in his temporary home and blew out a well deserved sigh. But just when he thought it was safe to let his attention stray, he abruptly felt a thick hand wrap around the side of the lamp and pluck it up. Danny gapped.

"Please-no!"

The hand hesitated from placing the item into the box.

"Danny?" Jack looked around curiously. Danny squeaked, holding back the need to yell. A second later, Jack shrugged his shoulder and gently placed the lamp into the recesses of the box next to the basket. As soon as Jack pulled his hand away and given Danny the chance to look up, his vision was covered again with a card, slightly open, being wedged next to him.

This couldn't be happening to him! His father was packing him up and giving him away to some guy for Christmas! Danny was beginning to think that this might be just as bad as being dissected by his parents in a lab. Danny frantically darted about uselessly in his container, buzzing about like a blind bird as he hit the sides.

Jack neatly closed the box and taped it shut.

In the fleeting light that disappeared, Danny's attention had some how been stable enough in his panic to notice what was written on the Christmas card next to him. Danny smacked the side of glass one more time before he flopped down, looking like he had just been shot.

The light was sealed away, and Danny stared out into enclosed darkness, his mouth hanging open in horror as the words written on the Christmas card burned inside of his skull casually.

'Merry Christmas, V-man!'

'Hope you're having a great holiday, from Jack Fenton.'

----

While Jack finished writing down the address on the top right corner of the cardboard box, he couldn't help but notice a small sound of something muffled yelling. Jack raised he head blankly and shrugged his shoulders after he failed to hear a series of profane curses wander out of Danny's mouth. Must have been the wind, there seemed to be some heavy snowfall outside and Jack could hear the occasional sound of ice pattering against the windows crudely.

"Better send this by air mail." He said, judging that the present wouldn't reach Vlad in time for Christmas if he didn't.

----

To be continued…

----

**HAH! And you were wondering 'How is this going to lead into a Vm/Df fan fic?' Well here we are…**


	4. Chapter 4

Thank you for the comment, **Pieling**! I am so glad for a second opinion. I've only been able to get one opinion out from my sister about what I write, so it really helps to have more opinions. I changed it, and I hope it grabs more attention!

New Teaser: When Danny makes a wish that gets him stuck inside of Norm's lamp he must find a way out of his horrid predicament before an unlikely Halfa stumbles upon Danny's lamp. FOP crossover VmxDf Try not reading if you don't like it.

Chapter four, Masters!

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­_Chapter One: Wishes._

_The fundamental purpose of a genie originally was to grant wishes to the owner anything they want. This has changed steadily in our history. As you may already know, the majority of genies are deceitful, tactless, untrustworthy, and relentlessly troublesome. If you are new to this, you will begin to understand why an immortal wish-granting entity such as yourself will undoubtedly become a fraudulent charlatan in due time…_

Danny laughed through his nose. This book was accurate, but Danny had the urge to find a marker and change a few of the phrases used to describe a genie.

Since he was without one, Danny merely read on inside the glow of his lava lamp that he had managed to turn on.

_But even in this current time, life-styles for a genie have not changed as a whole since the past few millenniums. Humans have certainly taken our existence for granted but since we are still here, you might as well know how we work._

_We grant wishes, we are immortal, and we should be very irritating while in the presence of, mostly, everyone. _

_That last choice is up to you, but if you would like to get walked all over by your owner, be my guest. With this in mind, you should be aware that you are likely considered as a fortunate asset to the finder of your lamp. They probably would not care much about the comfort of your immortal state, and wish for some of the most tax-worthy wishes._

Danny paused at this while one of his dark eyebrows rose slowly. Surely not all genie's out look upon their 'masters' where like that.

_If you are exceptionally new, please be aware that it is mandatory that you must grant three wishes to one person. Once that person has granted those three wishes, they cannot wish for you to grant any more. Although, it is possible for a human to wish for more wishes, but it would be a lot easier on your behalf if you did not tell anyone about this. There are no rules that require a genie to tell the truth. If anything, you can even try to convince a human into thinking that you are something other than a genie if you'd like. It would probably work in this time of age._

Danny took this as a mild insult.

_Also… Do not exert yourself. Wishing takes an equal amount of energy from the genie, judging upon how hard the task is. For example, if a master wishes for food, it would only require a small amount of your energy to grant it. But if you are new, and your master wishes for something tremendous, like ruling the world, or controlling legions of humans, you will likely be unable to grant it with the lack of strength you have. The wish would become null, and your master would have to wish for something else, or patiently wait for you to gain enough energy to grant their desire._

_When granting a wish, every genie uses his or her own way of granting it. By saying this, I mean by the gesture of winking an eye, nodding a head, snapping fingers, clapping hands, wiggling a nose or even saying a phrase. You don't choose how you tap into your magic, it merely happens. You can't grant or use any of your magic if you are incapable of performing your signature gesture. If halted in the middle of your gesture, the wish itself is put on hold until you are capable of…_

Thud.

Danny winced petulantly as he felt the box rattle to one side as the vehicle stopped.

The young ghost boy had long since lost track of time sitting with in the green container in the darkness of the box. For all he knew, it could have been three days to him. Besides losing track of time, Danny had lost complete concern and interest with floating aimlessly about in the lava lamp. He was so pacified by this that Danny's dread had been quelled.

That was, until he managed to figure out how to turn on the lava lamp. Once he discovered that the lamp reacted to the sound of clapping noises, the lamp illuminated the small box, plastic bubble wrap, and- to Danny's discomfort- a holiday card with his arch enemy's name written in it.

Silently dreading this, Danny began to distract himself with the only two things he had: a book and his sense of hearing.

For the longest time, Danny had guessed that he was mailed off in the morning by his father. Judging from the noises outside of his cardboard box, along with the occasional rough shakes, Danny deducted that he was being shipped off to Wisconsin.

By plane. He figured that out once he felt the rumble of the plane engine, and the sensation of his ears popping.

At one point, Danny had fallen to sleep after slowly figuring out the sync of his emotions. The short intervals of panic made his stomach churn- reminding him also of his hunger. Then his shoulders would slump for a period of time and he would coil up into cradle position as he falls into a moment of morbid acceptance. Soon after that, he would furiously try to redeem his flare by looking through the book. Finally, he would give up and wonder patiently when he was going to get tossed out of the frying pan and into the fire.

When he had woken up, Danny noticed the change from roaring engine to puttering car. However, Danny didn't connect the puzzle pieces together until the car had lurched to a halt for less than a minute, and then started up again.

Recollecting his previous fears, Danny had begun to sizzle within his lamp with anxiety chewing at his ghostly tail. To calm himself down, Danny had started to read from 'da guide to being a genie'. Despite the fact that Danny knew he wasn't a genie, Danny was soon glad to have that book because otherwise, he would have been choking on his apprehension each time the vehicle stopped on its route.

It was on the last sudden stop that had caused his crate to topple over.

Recovering quickly, Danny had hastily silenced any of his movement to listen carefully to the movement outside. Danny had gradually picked up a pattern. The car door would open, footsteps would crunch to the back of the van, some rustling noises would be heard near by, and then the car door would slam shut and the car would start up once more.

Danny waited for this to happen again…

His ears prickled like a cats' when they're ready to run. He could hear the front door open, a pair of footsteps climb out from the van. Danny waited. The doors swung open. There was a rustling movement near by…

But here is when the routine changed. Danny was about to sink back down to the bottom of is lava lamp and resume reading when he felt the box lurch into action. He could feel it being plucked up carelessly and rocked from one side to another as he was carried to his destination.

Danny gulped. He had finally arrived.

----

Vlad did not like the holidays.

It wasn't a very hard guess to know why Wisconsin's billionaire harbored a bitter dislike for the holidays. In truth, he didn't hate the holidays so much as he hated what happened during those holidays; that, and he simply hated the people who celebrated it. Christmas was a symbolic holiday to celebrate a religion. And to those that didn't really much care for the origins of Christmas, it was an excuse for families to get together and remember why they cared about them. Vlad favored neither of these choices, and as a rich man- Vlad didn't even enjoy the very idea of getting a commercially engrossed gift.

Christmas was meaningless to Vlad as he was to Maddie Fenton or his own family. Grudgingly, the only thing that the holiday did bring was the charitable knocks on his door insisting that he donate money to the unfortunate. Vlad usually sneered at this, but he often paid them to prevent the media from eating away at his status. The side effect to this is that he had more than five different charities at his door every two hours.

Sometimes Vlad simply pretends that he isn't home so he doesn't have to answer the door.

Oh, he got gifts. But they were generally given to him by brown-nosing companies that eagerly wait for Vlad to lend a wealthy hand to their production. The gifts were usually delivered and then tossed away carelessly. Vlad had long since stopped tearing aside their packaged cover. He had only to look at the size of the box and know that it was possibly filled with something that he already had.

It always was the same. Christmas, Vlad thought, was just an excuse for people to try slipping their hands into his pockets.

Tonight, the fifth night before Christmas, Vlad was quietly sitting in his den, admiring the few things about Christmas that didn't technically bother him. One of these things was the terrible weather beating at his castle windows futilely. It made him feel all the more cozy sitting within a deep red chair in front of a crackling fire. Besides creating a peaceful atmosphere, it also prevented anyone from banging at his door, begging for money.

He didn't know what it was about these December holidays that made life extraordinarily slow. Ghosts don't attack as much nearing the ghostly truce; and it's harder for Vlad to gain any form of spectral service around his lab because of it. Even Skulker appeared to be caught by the festive spirit and hasn't returned to acquire any new forms of weaponry. With the lack of service, Vlad had to put a temporary hold on his scheming, and though he didn't like to admit it, he was relieved to kick up his heels for a little while.

Of course, nothing ever lasts as Vlad already knew, and just as he was beginning to feel the comforts of his chair lull him into a half sleep, there was a familiar echoing pound of someone's fist to the front door.

Vlad frowned_. Butter biscuits… Charity in this weather?_

Inevitably, the door was answered by a maid, as Vlad predicted. Now he simply just waited to be interrupted by the timid voice of the house maid, telling him that he was required at the front door to whisk away some pesky carolers. Vlad scowled as he heard the sound of the maids footsteps creep into the den.

He heard the maid clear her throat and Vlad closed his eyes, sighing.

"Another present, Mr. Masters sir." Vlad wasn't watching, but he was sure that the maid was shuffling her feet on the carpet nervously as she held a small present in her arms. What Vlad didn't know was that the maid was reading the mailing address on the side of the box.

"Throw it away." Vlad said drearily. He's had enough with the pathetic excuses of company brand gifts.

The maid hesitated, and Vlad noticed because he didn't hear her small footsteps recede out from the living room. The maid cleared her voice again.

"It says it's from Amity Park, Jack Fenton."

Jack Fenton? Vlad found himself sighing irritably as he got to his feet. He had forgotten about that fat oaf and his gifts. Jack was a senseless ignorant fool. But every year, Vlad was given a present from his old collage 'friend' to celebrate Christmas. Each year, Vlad would always be sincere enough to open Jack's gift before throwing it out. And each year, Vlad always got some kind of festive Christmas gift basket filled with fake plastic fruit and some candy canes.

This year, Vlad thought, Jack's present was going to be no different.

Sourly, Vlad had taken the present from the maid and calmly allowed her to leave and carry on with her business. He looked down at the cardboard box resentfully. Vlad could tell Jack writing scrawled across the corner of the box.

The one thing Vlad did like about getting this gift every year was that it was one more item to use as target practice.

With a careless sway, Vlad removed the packaging tape neatly and peeled back the flaps to the box. Vlad never waited for Christmas to open these pathetic presents. Why should he? Vlad looked down at two items within the box of plastic bubble wrap and raised a brow hesitantly.

There was the same typical fruit basket that Vlad had been expecting… but there was something new… a green lava lamp? And it was turned on. Frowning with mild distaste, Vlad picked up the small ornament basket in his hands and looked at it thoughtfully.

And then it burst into a series of purple furious flames as Vlad 'accidentally' tapped into his spectral powers and set the basket aflame.

A smooth vile smirk spread from ear to ear across Vlad's slightly pale visage as he watched the sugar candy-canes melt in a puddle of blue flames within the basket. The ruby red flowers curled and turned brown and then black and the holly and mistletoe shriveled up into charred beads. Vlad watched the series of blue and purple flames flicker gently in his grasp.

It certainly was a beautiful gift.

Yet again, though, nothing ever lasted and the flames soon died away and left a black smoldering skeleton of a basket in Vlad's hands.

Vlad wasn't sure, but he thought he had hear a small whimpering noise as he turned his heels and started back to his chair. Before he took a seat down, he tossed the remains of Jack's gift in the fire before he plucked up the lava lamp in his hands delicately to study it.

There was that small squeaking noise again.

Vlad raised a brow and looked around himself to see if a timid little maid had spotted him torching the festive gift basket. No one was there. Possibly a mouse, perhaps. Vlad looked back to the lamp and tilted his head slowly. Odd… the lamp was now turned off. He could still feel the warmth of the lamp's prior light against his slender digits and the neon green liquid within the lamp still sloshed up and down calmly as it cooled off.

What an odd gift. Vlad smirked slightly. Jack must have just begun to notice the redundancy of his Christmas presents and tried to spice it up a little. To Vlad's bitter humor, he realized that he didn't have a lava lamp.

And he didn't really care much about having one either.

A familiar purple ecto-energy flared around his grasp and began to heat the lamp.

This time, there was a loud yelp that sounded very close to him.

Vlad jumped and sat up straight in his seat, looking around himself warily. Forgetting to channel his ghostly powers, the purple aura faded from his hand and beneath Vlad's alert breathing, he could hear someone murmur a pained sigh. The billionaire frowned as he listened to the small sound of someone wheezing. Someone was here, and close by…

It was coming from the lava lamp. Vlad arched a brow and looked at the useless trinket suspiciously. The bright liquid swayed within the bottle innocently. While Vlad watched he couldn't help but notice that in the flicker of the living room lights he could see the highlights of a word written on the side of the lower metallic cover to the lamp. Carefully, Vlad raised his hand up to the side of the lamp and brushed his thumb over the surface of the lamp as he read the words out loud.

"...Smoof?"

Abruptly the lamp spurred to life. It jolted in Vlad's hands, which was enough to cause the billionaire to let go in shock and let the lamp fall onto his chair and then roll off onto the ground with a clatter. A spurt of thick bright green smaug swelled out from the lamp and spiraled into an unsteady column of discolored smoke. Vlad was already up on his feet and preparing to defend himself or attack while he noticed a human shape thrash within the thick haze of smoke.

Vlad blinked as noticed that the figure was coughing furiously.

As wheezing and coughs eliminated the effects of a dramatic entrance, the plumes of smoke coiled back into the lamp after spitting out whoever was in there. Once the smoke had cleared, Vlad could see a scrawny young figure holding his chest with one of his hands and the other clutching his bowed head.

Vlad's dark ice blue eyes sparked with recognition when he looked at the crown of snow white hair as it rose wearily. The figure blinked dimly and looked back, his jaw dropping the instant he spotted the billionaire and then snapping shut multiple times. If Vlad didn't know who he was looking at, he could have mistaken the boy for being a fish. Surprise turned into anger as Vlad clenched his fists, preparing to take his ghostly form.

"You!"

The ghost boy flinched slightly. "Yes, me! And now… I'm going!" Danny said hurriedly as he took in Vlad's wary stance and bit his lip. The ghost boy rose into the air and turned to zoom through the den entrance.

About twenty feet from the lamp, Danny was abruptly halted by and unknown force.

Vlad's concerns with a surprise attack had slowly vanished as he gradually became more and more aware of Daniel's distressed complexion and the fact that he didn't seem to be as worried that he was within Vlad's home as he was with being near that lamp.

The white haired boy pulled against his invisible strain, but nothing happened. Vlad frowned slowly as he began to wonder if Danny was trying to practice being a mime. Ignorant of Vlad's confused stares, Daniel tugged at the pull of his ghostly tail furiously, but he wouldn't budge any further. At last, the ghost child gasped and gave up; feeling the tug of his tail sling shot him backwards into the den and at Vlad. Fortunately, Vlad had been watching and stepped away in time to let the boy land painfully onto the Persian carpet at his feet.

Vlad smirked. It looked as though Danny had just beaten himself up and Vlad didn't even have to raise a finger. This was certainly was an interesting Christmas present this year.

Danny groaned and leisurely picked himself up, dusted off his arms and looked up at Vlad expectantly. The billionaire raised a brow. The boy looked as though he was fed up about something. Vlad couldn't possibly know what.

"Well?" Danny said, looking flustered.

Vlad cocked his head to one side inquisitively. "Well what?" He grinned at the sight of watching a vein in the side of Daniel's temple throb.

"Well aren't you wondering why I'm here?"

"I am. But I'm also wondering why you haven't left." Vlad said smoothly with a hint of danger lingering in his low voice as he eyed the boy closely. Daniel froze, shrinking down slightly on his ghostly tail. Out of curiosity, Vlad noticed that Danny hadn't reverted to using his legs like he usually does when he is stationary.

"Uh… I'm… here… be… cause…" Danny's mouth went dry and Vlad looked at the halfa skeptically. Danny gulped. "… I… was sent here… for, Christmas?"

"Clearly." Vlad said; having ignored Daniel's worst lie he had ever come up with. The billionaire noticed Danny's cheeks had turned red. He wasn't sure if it was fury or embarrassment that was causing him to blush. It was probably both.

"Okay, actually… I can't leave." Danny said through clenched teeth. Vlad arched a brow, pretending to be mildly surprised.

"I hardly noticed..."

Daniel hunched he head forward and scowled coldly up at Vlad as his ghostly tail licked the air a few inches above the carpeted floor. Vlad Masters looked down at Danny, hiding his starved curiosity as he watched Danny nervously glance away from Vlad to the green lava lamp. Danny was bothered- that was one thing that was certainly clear. But what confused Vlad was that Daniel looked at Vlad like a small broken winged bird would stare up the cat that had just viciously bitten its wing. Vlad calmly pondered if he had done anything recently that could make the ghost boy look at him in such a scared sort of way.

Vlad frowned. This must be some kind of trap.

"All right Daniel, you can stop fooling around. What are you doing here?" Vlad said glowering at the ghost boy. Danny blinked, looking surprised but quickly tried to cover his expression with a short cough and dart his eyes down to the ground.

"Uh, exactly! Well… actually I… uh…" Vlad observed idly as Danny picked out the best, and possibly only answer he could have. "I'm here… tooo stop you from trying to break up my family!" He said, rising into the air to fake a look of confidence.

"I haven't done anything yet. But it's a nice suggestion." Vlad said as he scowled at the boy for lying. The billionaire crossed his arms in front of his chest while Danny gulped down some air nervously.

"…Then I'm here… to stop you from-"

"Oh please, Daniel…" Vlad sighed, closing his eyes tiredly. Danny blinked, looking accused. "…You always did rush into trouble without a plan… but without a motive?"

Vlad's ice cold eyes snapped open and the ghost boy shivered. The billionaire took a step forward. Daniel submissively leaned back. "Now, Daniel…" While Vlad spoke, he paused as he drew closer. Danny attempted to shrink away, but the next moment he felt his chin being snagged by a hand that forced him to crane his head up and stare directly into Vlad's icy eyes.

"Why is it… that I found you packed away in a lamp sent by your idiot father?"

----

To be continued…

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**Next Chapter is already mid way done; the wait will not have to be long... Sorry to leave you at such an odd pit stop. Reviews are greatly encouraged. The more reviews, the more likely other people will pause to read this!**

**Quote of the chapter:** "Well?"

"Well What?"

"Well aren't you wondering why I'm here?"

"I am. But I'm also wondering why you haven't left." **… Writing that made me feel good.**


	5. Chapter 5

I'm glad you find this story funny, **Selyne**! I was worried for a while that I wasn't funny enough. I hope you find these next chapters funny too!

**Illustriously Unsound**, uh thanks! I guess threats count as reviews too, heh. I'll try not to fall behind, and you'll have to wait and see how the ending turns out. I might change it out of popular demand, but eh, who knows?

'Your story's got me hooked!' omieffingwad, you don't know how long I've been waiting to hear that, **Ayven**! You've just made my day a lot brighter! The plot will begin to thicken! I just hope I don't begin to get tangled up in it.

The **PiePieSeal of Approval!** I shall wear it proudly! Hope you like this chapter, **Pieling**! Heh!

Chapter five, wishing.

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Danny could have sworn that if someone put a candle under Vlad's arctic eyes, the flame itself would have turned into a pillar of ice. Nothing in this world could be any colder than those eyes that leered down at Danny's shuddering form. What was worse was that Vlad had a hold of his chin and he didn't look like he was about to release him. Looking up into those cold heartless depths made his throat run dry, and the only words that came to Danny were the last things that Danny would have wanted to tell Vlad. The truth.

Danny had only played this out in his mind more than one hundred and sixty-two times on his way to Vlad's dreadful manor, and all of them ended with Danny neck deep in trouble. He couldn't tell Vlad that he was… possibly a genie. He wasn't even sure if the rules he read in that book would even apply to him. He couldn't risk having his arch nemesis know that he was stuck where ever that lamp was.

Suddenly, Danny wanted to be back in that lamp, sitting in the dark within a box.

"…I had a run in with… some trouble." Danny said quietly as an insufficient answer. It was true- just not something that he knew Vlad would like to hear.

He could feel the male's grip press against his chin more firmly. Reacting to this form of discomfort, Danny wrenched his head away from his grip. Vlad looked slightly aggravated with Danny's decision to be as vague as possible. The billionaire sighed, raising his hand to his brow of platinum hair.

"I would assume that you did, but I'm not asking for that. I'm asking why you are here, and why you 'can't' seem to leave." He seethed through his teeth.

Danny cheeks were still red, but now it made the boy look as though he had been standing out in the cold for hours on end. Vlad's glares felt like wet icicles being pressed against the back of his neck.

"… I'm here because my dad accidentally sent me without knowing." Danny said as his shoulders drooped. Vlad paused, his cold looks lifting for a moment as he noticed Danny's fallen expression. "And I don't know why I can't leave, actually." Danny said, raising his head again to cast a blazing defiant stare towards Vlad.

Taken aback, Vlad straightened up and looked down at the boy quizzically. He was telling the truth- which was amazement enough. And Vlad knew. He hasn't become a master of lies without out knowing the gestures of an amateur liar like Daniel. The boy always glanced away from him whenever he lies. This time, though, Danny looked back at Vlad with a glare to challenge his own. But again, Vlad frowned. Daniel's answers didn't help him at all with understanding this intrusion. It still didn't explain why Daniel had been trapped within a lamp, and not something like a Fenton thermos. It also didn't explain why he couldn't escape from a very possible beating.

"Why the lamp?" Vlad said shortly after brushing his facial hair in a thoughtful manner. Danny hesitated and looked back to the lamp. His flicker of fire dampened.

"It's… a new invention." Danny said, trying to avoid saying something like 'because a genie tossed it to me and some how I'm now was stuck inside of it until you rubbed that lamp.' If anything, Danny thought, he should avoid saying the word 'genie'. Just like that book said… If they don't know what you are, then you can trick them into thinking otherwise.

But what kind of good would that do? He was still stuck here.

In the middle of trying to deduct this, Danny heard Vlad release a sigh as the man rubbed one side of his temple with his attentive fingers. Danny could tell that Vlad was getting a headache.

Danny quietly managed a small grin of triumph.

"If you are going to lie, you might as well do it right by removing your hands from your mouth." Danny's grin vanished. How could he tell that he was lying? Did his hands tip him off? Why did he raise his hands to cover his mouth? Damn, damn, damn!

"I wasn't lying." Danny said, trying to sound accused.

Vlad had only to look at him and Danny wilted passively. Vlad knew he was lying again, and this time, Danny also knew that Vlad knew. Damn… again.

In that moment of silence, Vlad had come to a meager conclusion that Daniel was in no position to attack him, so with averse sigh, he folded neatly into his chair, leaned forward and placed his head in his hands. Daniel was being as ignorant as his father, and it was causing a few of his veins to throb in his skull. He muttered.

"Daniel, I wish you wouldn't lie to me…" Vlad said with a weary voice.

To Danny's horror, his hands raised without hesitation after Vlad had finished his last syllable, spread far apart, and then clapped together abruptly.

Clap! Danny suddenly felt very tired.

Danny stared blankly at his hands, wondering if he had just been possessed by a ghost without him really knowing it. It hadn't occurred to Danny that Vlad was also staring at Danny and his hands outstretched from his body. Danny stared back…

A few more seconds of silence and Danny had pulled his hands apart and stiffly straightened them to his sides. Vlad cleared his throat, as though finding this particular moment awkward. So did Danny, but he did nothing but blush anxiously. He forced his eyes to the fire place rather than looking back at Vlad, who looked like a sleek black cat with dilated pupils.

"What was that?" Vlad asked.

Danny bit his lip until he was sure his lower lip was probably red with mistreatment. He wasn't sure what just happened, but he had a good idea of what… Did he just grant Vlad's wish? If so… that would mean to couldn't lie…? But Danny wasn't a genie! _So why'd I clap my hands?_ There was a long strenuous debate raging within Danny's skull that could have lasted for ten minutes if Vlad hadn't derailed his thoughts by gently crossing his legs at his knees and tapping one of his fingers impatiently on the arm of his chair.

_Say a lie, say a lie! _"I was trying to swat a-…" Danny's mouth stopped moving for him. Instead, it started to work against him.

"I was granting you your wish!" He yelled unexpectedly. _Crap-crap-crap! _Danny had been trying to clamp his mouth shut and cover his mouth with his hands, but it all failed miserably as he blurted out the possible truth. Vlad raised his head up, feigning the look of mild shock.

Vlad never looked too happy, too sad, or too surprised for this matter. A person at his stature didn't feel as much as a common teen or American family would. Though Vlad may have looked only slightly shocked, he was actually very surprised. But hiding that little bit of emotion before looking 'very' shocked always gave his expressions a bit of an edge, as though he was already processing his predicaments. Danny seemed to shrink back while Vlad tilted his head to one side casually. His permanently pale pony tail settled idly on a little bit of his shoulder.

"Is that so?" He asked, arching a brow slowly. Danny was about to shrug and try to fake a non-verbal answer for 'I dunno, I was just doing something random' but instead, he found his head nodding against his orders.

Vlad frowned. The boy was surely trying to pull his leg. Daniel couldn't possibly grant wishes, let alone stop lying. He was up to something, Vlad thought, and it was certainly the strangest trick he has seen young Daniel pull yet.

As for Danny, he was already panicking frantically with, in fact, no plan at all. If Vlad figures out that he was a genie, he didn't want to imagine what Vlad would do.

Danny watched in discomfort as Vlad's lips peeled back into a calm, vindictive smile. From the way Danny could see it, Vlad had just discovered the connection between 'granting your wish' and the tacky old lava lamp that he can't get away from and had earlier been trapped in. Danny could feel his heart plummet.

"How repulsively cute… Tell me Daniel, what are you trying to accomplish acting like a 'magical' genie?" He said as he rose to his feet. He stressed the words 'magical genie' by rolling his eyes and raising his voice temporarily. Danny stared blankly at Vlad, looking as though he had just narrowly missed getting gored to death by a raging boar. Vlad didn't seem to catch Danny's miraculous expression as he turned to face the glowing hearth of a dieing fire. The billionaire's hands were clasped together properly behind him.

For once, Danny actually looked as though he had just seen a ghost- and that's something to say since he rarely was spooked out by any so-called scary ghosts in the past. Luckily, Vlad wasn't facing him to notice it. In fact, the older halfa appeared far too amused with Danny's supposed 'antics'. The problem was; Danny didn't have any antics. He was just speechless.

So Vlad carried on with a soft chuckle.

"So I'm to guess that if I wished for- oh, say…" He raised a hand to his narrow chin pensively. "… To have it rain tangerines …" He waved his hands carelessly to emphasize the outrageousness of the idea, "… You'd be able to grant that?" he asked with an unpleasant touch to his grin.

Danny would have liked to laugh and say 'oh that is a good one! Your right, I'm just playing around! Don't mind me and my ridiculous actions!' but he knew regrettably that as soon as his mouth opened, he wasn't going to say anything like what he had planned.

"I don't know." He said, and then angrily bit down on his tongue.

Vlad smiled maliciously back at Daniel. "Then let's find out!" He said, clicking his tongue to the roof of his mouth as he turned to face Daniel. Vlad was being sarcastic, that bit was the most that Danny could tell. Vlad wanted to watch Danny as he shattered his odd fantasy as a genie, then he would get back to truly understanding why Danny was daft enough to get himself shipped to Wisconsin.

Vlad cleared his throat and raised his voice. "I wish for it to rain tangerines around my house!" He said, smirking.

Danny's hands rose and quickly clapped together before Danny could force them to stop. Vlad looked down at Danny expectantly while the ghost boy dropped unpleasantly as though he had just run a hundred mile race. Danny truly did feel very weary.

But unbeknownst as to why Danny looked paler than he should in his ghost form, Vlad was about to chuckle dryly and downsize Danny and his strange fantasy before there was a thudding sound.

Vlad hesitated with his mouth half open as another thud followed.

Thud… thud… thud-bump-thud… thud thud bump bump thud… thudthudthudbump-

Eventually the only sounds that Vlad could hear were the distant noise of what could have been guessed as hail, only a bit softer and squishier. Danny was promptly raising his fatigued form up, looking vaguely dazed while Vlad spun around to head to the nearest window.

A moment later, he looked outside into the dark night of December. There was snow falling gently to the ground as it should be, but following it was a barrage of small oranges pattering into the snow. They were creating small sized holes within the untouched snow. Just as Vlad was about to lean forward closer to the window, a tangerine smacked the window right where his head was and splattered against the glass. Vlad jumped backwards in exhilarated dismay.

"Cheese logs!"

Pang,pang, thud, bump… splat!

The older halfa watched with his eyes grown wide as his house was attacked by small insignificant tangerines. Danny would have haughtily laughed if he didn't feel as though the muscles in his stomach were already busy with flexing. Danny settled for a crooked smile as Vlad spun around on his heels to look back at Daniel in utter astonishment. Judging from his expression, he had just realized that Danny was the cause of this hail of small oranges.

"Surprise…" Danny said with the lack of luster that he had attempted to use. Vlad continued to look at Danny aghast, trying to recover from this enormous slice of information that he earned in under a minute.

At first, Vlad looked greatly worried. Danny merely thought that was because his house was being attacked by oranges, and if Danny was lucky enough, Vlad's home would collapse under the abundant weight of tangerines. But he noticed that Vlad had hesitantly withdrawn away from Danny as the patter of orange hail continued to fall. For a fleeting moment, Danny was amazed that Vlad would actually be afraid of him. If anything, Danny should be the one afraid of Vlad now that he knew he was a genie.

Well at least Vlad has already used up two of his wishes, Danny thought as he sighed heavily. One left to go.

Pang bump thud thud bump thud…pang… thud… thud…

Vlad looked back to the window to take a short look out at the snow fall and tangerines and then looked back at Daniel, his expression gradually becoming less and less surprised and more sadistic. Danny swallowed a bit of air and purposely cast his gaze down as soon as Vlad had caught Danny watching him carefully.

Soon Vlad was smiling, and the rainfall of tangerines sounded as though they were running out. Danny had the sneaking suspicion that Vlad was becoming more aware of his opportunities. The ghost boy fidgeted in his place as he felt Vlad's relentless stare focus on him.

"You're more of a freak than I am, Daniel."

Danny shot Vlad a dark look while the billionaire idly stepped back to his deep scarlet arm chair. Silently, Danny wondered if he might be able to kill his 'master' before he got any more ideas for his next wish. Remembering that Norm could have probably done him in the moment he was free, Danny guessed that there was a rule that prevented genies from brutally assaulting their masters. Danny didn't respond to Vlad, for fear that he might blurt out some more truth that would probably make his tight spot a lot more tighter.

"How many wishes does that make now…?" Vlad appeared to be reaping his juicy discovery with the attentive glances over to Danny as he sat back into the comforts of his chair. He had leaned down to gingerly pick up the green lava lamp that had been long since forgotten after Vlad had first dropped it. "Two right…?"

The lamp was now cool again, and Danny could feel a regal hand gingerly wrap around him while Vlad held the lamp to inspect it curiously. Danny failed to hide the long shiver that coiled down his spine while Vlad drew one of his fingers down the surface of the lamp.

Vlad appeared to notice Danny's odd discomfort, and his grin began to resemble a cat like smirk as a result. Danny refused to say a word, and it was hard to concentrate on that one goal because of Vlad's fragile hold of his lamp.

"Tell me, do I only have three wishes?" Vlad asked, and to earn himself an answer, he neatly jabbed his thumb to the side of the lamp. Danny felt as though someone had just tried tickling his side and he lurched away from the invisible hand, gasping as he did.

"Yes-yes! Don't do that!" Danny exclaimed as he grabbed onto his side gingerly.

Satisfied, Vlad persisted by rubbing his thumb absently to the side of the lamp more slowly. To Danny's confused nerves, he noticed it felt like someone was giving his back a wonderful message. Danny twitched, trying not to show any signs of ease, or anxiety.

"So I have one more wish… What'll happen next?" Vlad asked while he drew his thumb away, and then arched it neatly so that his nail precariously grazed the surface of the lamp. Danny quickly figured out that Vlad was threatening him and opened his mouth.

This time, for the hell of it, Danny attempted to lie again. It didn't work. His lie was halted by a short hiccup before his voice answered truthfully against his will.

"I'm stuck inside the lamp until the next person finds me… I think." Danny said sketchily.

"Can I make more wishes after my last one?"

"Yes and no…" Danny winced slightly as he felt Vlad's thumb nail scratch his side. Ouch.

One of Vlad's brows rose questioningly. "Why yes, and why not?"

Danny bit his lip and looked at Vlad apprehensively, dreading the moment when Vlad would lose his patience and drag his nail on the lamp again. It came sooner than Danny had expected, and sharper than he had thought it would. He felt as though someone had taking the blunt end of a spoon and dragged it down the middle of his back.

Danny's back arched and he twisted around himself futilely to stop the weird sensation from crawling up his spine and down again. Glancing over to Vlad's comfortable, cross-legged, form, Danny could see that Vlad was smiling quiet happily back at him as he ran his nail up and down the shaft of the lamp casually.

"Yes-yes! Because… yOu can Wah-Ish! For mORe wIshess!" Danny lost control of the tone and volume of his voice. It was all because of Vlad's hand was making him feel like he was getting surprise licks from a large water noodle. Only it was more surprising and less wet. "Annd nooo beCause after Us-ing! All of YOur wiShes? I doN't have To Graant you Any Moorre!" Danny said, panting now as he wriggled in his torment. It didn't hurt, but it was driving him mad!

Whenever Vlad's fingers touched the side the lamp, he felt a laugh want to burst from his throat, and the next moment, he would feel as though the air was being taken away from his lungs as a warm pressure would apply briefly against his chest. After that, his tail would feel as though someone was pulling at it playfully or his stomach would feel as though someone was prodding it curiously. Finally, at Vlad's last touch, Danny felt a sensational rush of excitement wander through his body. Seconds later, Danny would blush and temporarily wonder why that last one felt less tormenting than the others.

Once Vlad's question was answered, he stopped all play with touching the lamp and grinned lightly.

"It's like my very own little voodoo doll of you." He mused evilly to himself. Danny gave Vlad a bitter glare.

"Well then!" He said, looking at Danny as though he had just made up his mind about what he was going to do with him. Danny had a good idea what that was and grimaced at the sound of Vlad's voice.

"I wish for three more wishes."

Danny winced his eyes shut as he felt his arms raise and spread apart. For that brief second that his hands began to move on their own, Danny quietly wished that he had never found that tacky old lava lamp in that stupid second-hand store.

Clap!

The next moment, Danny was out like a light at Vlad's feet.

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To be continued…

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**I'm not sure if any one else has seen this, but to see a really well made music video devoted to Vlad, check out Youtube and type 'When you're evil'. You'll laugh, I know you will.**


	6. Chapter 6

Truly, honestly, and absolutely- when I say this, I _really_ mean this; checking every night for reviews has actually made me giggle, laugh out loud, and even murmur with admiration! These words are only the front of how I feel when reading them. It makes me feel terribly giddy, and I thank you all who have taken their time to speak up!

**Pieling,** I'm so glad you are addicted! Ur… I mean… that is... oh heck, I'm just glad! I hope you're not loosing any sleep over patiently waiting for me! Or getting kicked out of a library either, for that matter.

Tangerines are kind of a part of the Christmas holidays to me, so I guess it might be the same to others, **Ayven**. All of December, my parents buy 'em, and put them in our stockings. Good to know I'm not the only other person with an oddball family! And I'm glad you found the last chapter exceptionally yummy! Tangerines are definitely a tasty treat(eeh heh heh!)

Wow, **Sasia 93**! I'd hug this sadistic you if it were possible… and safe! It's like I got myself an early birthday present! Thank you for reviewing all those chapters!

-Din happily accepts the tangerine from **WTFwonder**! Of course, in which case, Din stashes it away with the rest of tangerines that she has left since xmas. Then Din merrily offers a chocolate covered coffee bean- They keep me up and help me write! Yeah, I loved that music video too. I was so caught up in the lyrics I just had to learn more about this 'voltaire' man. Some of his songs are wonderful and just as funny!

And thank you **Fma-DNangle, **and **Danny Phantom Phanatic**! Knowing that people are sitting on the edge of their computer chairs, waiting for me, makes me feel omnipotent. I hope my ego doesn't burst.

**Illustriously Unsound**, you never cease to terrify me. Thank you.(?)

I think I'm going to start replying _individually_ in my next chapter to avoid making large interruptions, so keep your eyes on your emails!

Chapter six, Very unusual.

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The snow was no longer falling by day light, and out along the narrow straight black highways between the borders of Canada and America hiked a tanned faced traveler, covered in layers of warm clothing. Even though it was no longer snowing, the wind had picked up as the sun began to rise and now there were dunes of snow that stood across the relatively flat terrain far and near the long stretch of road. Ah, it reminded the traveler of the warm east. Except it wasn't really a desert of sand, but of snow.

He was a long way from home, yet the man couldn't possibly care. He was enjoying his time even now in the blistering cold. He walked, wearing a pair of light blue snow pants with small sandal-like shoes, trudging along side of the highway with his head bowed to prevent the cold from getting at his face.

His body language didn't look pleasant, but the man appeared to be whistling quiet happily.

This whistling could be heard from a distance. More specifically, the person to first hear the light tune over the constant blow of wind was a Canadian officer at the boarder gate on the highway. It was early in the morning, and the officer had a cup of hot steaming coffee clasped in his gloved hands as he sat huddled within the silent boarder check. He had looked out temporarily when he had heard a soft whistle and blinked in surprise to see a man clad in blue snow gear walking towards the boarder check.

This was highly unusual.

Most people had the sense to drive since there was nothing but trees for the next few hundred miles into Canada. And the same went for any one heading into America. Civilization was a long ways away from the boarder check.

How this man actually managed to trudge all this way was a wonder to this officer. But he merely assumed that the man must have hitchhiked most of his way here.

However, just to be on the safe side, the Canadian leaned over and nudged his partner awake with the shake of his shoulder. The other officer snorted as he was roused from his short morning nap. He looked arguably at his comrade for a short moment before the first officer gestured towards the approaching figure.

This was certainly a very odd way of passing the boarder check.

The two Canadian officers waited and watched curiously as the man with his tuneless whistle reached the boarder check. The Officer that had originally spotted the figure was the first to get up and grudgingly step out from his small booth to inspect the strange man. Car or not, the officer knew that he was required to interrogate anyone passing the boarders between Canada and America.

But just to be safe again, this officer decided that he might have to ask a few more questions about this man than what is mandatory.

The blue clad stranger raised his head as he heard the officer step out from the warm confides of his booth and approached him. His tanned lips pulled back into a confident and somewhat misleading smile. The Canadian didn't know why, but he didn't like that smile. It was _too_ altruistic.

"Well hey! If it isn't the first person I've seen today. How's it cooking?"

The officer looked at the stranger doubtfully, but politely responded. "uh, fine. Cold, but find."

"Really now? Did you figure that one out on your own?" He said, letting a jovial laugh burst past his lips. The officer scrunched his nose up, finding the comment less humorous than the man did. "Just kidding n' all, right?" the stranger said as he flashed a pearl white smile. The officer quietly shrugged off the insult and reminded himself that his badge didn't give him the right to sock any cheeky brutes that come up with wise cracks about his intellect. He was Canadian, not dumb.

"I'll be needing to see some of your papers." The officer said as he rubbed his nose to keep it warm in the cold northern air.

The odd man looked back at the officer blankly as though he wasn't sure what he had just said. The officer guessed from the look of his tanned skin that the man was probably an immigrant in America, but his accent was completely American. Perhaps he was born in America. Nevertheless, the officer needed to see some form of identification.

"Uh... Well sure!" The man said and went to remove one of his gloves. As he did this, his other hand retreated behind himself. Then the figure merely snapped his fingers and then pulled his other arm back from behind him, only this time he was holding something that looked like an old gritty yellow piece of papyrus rolled up and tied with something that resembled animal skin.

The officer stared at the old scroll for a few seconds, wondering if maybe his coffee wasn't strong enough today. He shook his head.

"All right, do you have any form of identification about yourself that I can use?" He asked, looking disbelievingly at the rolled up yellow paper.

"I have a name, if that's what you'd like." The stranger said, smirking wickedly. The officer shifted his feet and blew out a sigh. Why did he always get the crazy people? They're always crazy in the morning... He should have stayed in his booth and pretended to be sleeping on the job. And judging from the arrogant smirk spread across the males face, the officer could only guess that the man was having fun being crazy. The officer growled, feeling his toes wriggle to capture the warmth that was leaking from his boots.

"All right, What's your name?"

"I'm Norm!" He said, a little _too_ enthusiastically. The Canadian arched a brow suspiciously. Did the man expect that he should know who he was? Well he didn't. This 'Norm' guy was probably just some kind of would-be Hollywood actor. The only thing that the officer could deduct from this man was that he was a complete loony. Hitchhiking all the way out here- absurd!

The officer shook his head. His name didn't concern the officer- and he was more worried about his coffee being taken by his partner than he was about who this man was, or why he was heading into Canada. The Canadian blew out a shivering huff of air, deciding that he had might as well ask the mandatory questions and send the man on his way.

"Okay, Norm… " He said, shifting his weight from one foot to another. Oddly enough, the Canadian noticed that Norm hardly moved, as though the cold weather was nothing but a warm breeze to him. "Are you carrying any illegal foods or substances?"

"If I was, would I be dumb enough to say yes?" Norm answered curiously.

The Canadian officer felt his ears redden with dislike.

"Sir, I will have to ask you to remove your coat and let me check if you are carrying any illegal items."

"What? You don't trust me?" Norm asked. The officer raised a brow and merely opened his hand in a gesture indicating that the man should take his coat off.

Norm scoffed indignantly while he unzipped his coat.

Abruptly, a large barrel to a gun flopped out from the snow coat and landed carelessly onto the ground. The man didn't seem to notice while the officer stepped away, face frozen in terrible awe. It wasn't just because the officer watched as an M-K 27 clattered to the ground like a useless piece of junk at the stranger's feet, it was also because it would be physically impossible to hide an item like that under a winter jacket.

And to make things even more surprising, the officer could hear the sound of more things being pulled out from the man's coat and sleeves as he 'removed' his coat.

A bottle of black widows and fierce looking insects rolled onto the black pavement. Oh dear!

Chains crumbled to the ground, ending with handcuffs. Oh my?

Following after was a series of unregistered hand guns and a number of unloaded bullets. Oh Gosh!

The man was grinning still while he produced a couple of plastic bags full of what looked like fine, white powder from his sleeve. Goodness Gracious!

Next the man paused to slide one of his shoulders out from his jacket. From the inside of the sleeve, the man reached his arm in to pull something out, but here is where he hesitated.

"Is smuggling ivory and fur illegal?" Norm asked lightly.

"Gah?" The officer only stared, paralyzed in bewilderment.

"Thanks..." The man said and then produced a thick lined coat and a series of necklaces that could have made the tooth fairy jealous. They were tossed to the ground. Sweet mother of...

Finally, the man puffed out a bit of air while he pulled out a large three barreled metallic instrument of mass destruction with one hand. It landed onto the ground with a loud, precarious thud. Holy Crap! This time, the officer had staggered back out of fear.

The man appeared to be done with extracting his incongruous items as he now held the coat under his right, tanned arm.

The officer stared; his eyes had grown to the size of dish plates. He didn't even budge in his sheer amazement when he heard the sound of his police partner stumble out from the booth, looking equally mortified. Speechless, the two men stared while Norm placed his hands on his hips and cleared his throat gingerly.

"Oh… is bringing fruit into Canada illegal, too?"

The two barely moved, but the strange man caught onto the large round eyes of the officer he was speaking to and seemed to have read the fleeting nudge of his gapping jaw as he nodded.

"Oh, well then…"

The strange man drew his hands down into his pockets. Suddenly, the two Canadian officers were triggered into instinctive action. One of them brought his hand up to his gun holster and took a hold of his gun. But before he could pull out the weapon, he heard his partner yell.

Surprised, he threw his gaze around to his partner that looked to have been struck by something yellow, round, and possibly edible. Regrettably, the man was struck in the face and was knocked to the ground. Groaning, the officer tried to get to his feet and remove the scattered bits of grapefruit from his face, but another oddly shaped item flew at him. This time it was a banana.

He looked back towards Norm to see he was holding a tomato in his hand and staring intently at him. The Canadian gripped onto his gun handle again and drew his gun.

Splat! Bang!

Just as a tomato had connected to the man's face he had pulled the trigger of his gun and a stray bullet flew right over the crazy man's shoulder.

"Hey now, It's only a bit of fruit," said the odd man. The officer wiped aside the smear of tomato juice from his face. He attempted to regain his footing, but just as he was pulling himself up onto his feet, an apple struck him in the cheek. Following that was two kiwis, a batch of grapes, and a couple of pomegranates. 'Only a little bit', the officer thought bitterly as he fell back onto the ground.

Soon the two officers were being harassed by myriads of random foreign fruits that came from opposing sides of the world. At one point, one of the officers had been knocked out by a flying pineapple. The other officer feared for the worse that the absurd man might resort to throwing vegetables next once he ran out. And for a moment there, the assault stopped. Oh no! The Officer cowered. Not the vegetables!

The only thing that the officer could hear was a foreign curse, and the sound of someone snapping his fingers repetitively. The officer couldn't see, since he was already huddled in a protective crouch on the road, half buried in fruit. Hesitantly, the officer turned his head, and pushed aside a couple of sliced water melons to look around.

Norm was standing- no- The officer could see that Norm was partially hovering over the ground while he tried snapping his hand multiple times, as if trying to gain a quick beat.

What Norm was really doing was he was trying to make a handful of small tangerines appear in his grasp so he may be able to continue 'playfully' pummeling his first Canadian victims on his journey. The thing was- nothing was happening. No tangerines at all. Slightly surprised and shortly disappointed, Norm stopped and looked at his snapping hand as though it was defective.

"Hm… "Norm would say to himself. He paused in his quiet thoughts of observation to notice that one of the officers was trying to make a break for it. The mound of fruit tumbled to one side as the Canadian squirmed free and attempted to run. Norm scowled at this, snapped his fingers, and made a potato appear in his grasp.

He threw the brown vegetable hard and it struck the back of the man's head, rendering him unconscious. Once the man was down for the count, Norm went back to looking at his hands curiously.

That had been highly unusual…

Norm shrugged it off and looked past the boarder point and into Canada.

Eh, it was fun pretending to act like the wandering hermit… But it was time for a faster means of transport.

Norm snapped his fingers once more and a slim sky blue convertible materialized in a puff of blue smoke on the road. Stepping past the two unconscious Canadians, Norm got into the car and adjusted the front mirror over the dashboard. He smiled back at his reflection in the mirror before he snapped his fingers to turn on the ignition. The car roared to purring life and Norm settled back into his seat and smirked.

"Watch out, Canada." He thought aloud before pushing his foot down on the gas pedal. "Here I come."

Not once did Norm ever think about why his powers had failed him for that one second. It was such a simple task as well- making tangerines- let alone simple garments and trinkets were the first thing any genie could do. Norm had been truly just playing around with these officers. If he wanted to really show off a bit of magical talent, he could have had the elements of wind and fire take the shape of something horrific and illogically possible to set them ablaze in cold never-ending fire.

But Norm was a lazy genie. Tangerines and other assorted fruits were just fine when it came to freaking out Canadians.

As the car spurted smoothly forward, Norm turned his attention away from the mirror to the road and chuckled dryly. That was fun… but now to find some civilization humbly waiting to be destroyed... This time, without fruit.

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To be continued…

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**The plot thickens!** **This chapter is the smallest I've ever made. There should be an award for that…**


	7. Chapter 7

I don't write things just to because I can. As tempting as it is, I have a story in mind, and don't want to lose track of it. I know a lot of people might be thinking 'get on with it! Why aren't they kissin' yet?! It's been six chapters after all!' well that's because it simply can't happen until it can happen. When that moment will come, no one will no until it smacks you upside the head. I can't be just random! It has to be the right moment…

Thank you for your comments, and thank you for waiting, most of you (key word, most… box ghost excluding) I'm sorry I've taken so long to submit this chapter, I hope you will forgive me after reading this chapter. And as a reminder... _reviews_ are very much admired- threats including (as some may already know.)

I'd like to thank Blue Phantom for being my beta and the first person to read my work late into the nights. Sometimes I don't know whether I'm torturing Blue, or not.

Chapter Seven, Getting use to it.

Activity began to stir within Danny's brain as his stomach quickly reminded him that he should be eating and not sleeping. Stiffly, the ghost boy curled up into himself, refusing to listen to his physical needs. His stomach made a low growling noise as he moved and Danny clenched his fingers slightly due to the vague ache. He stayed curled up into himself for a few more tiresome minutes, refusing to open his eyes and except the fact that he was definitely awake. Eventually, Danny knew that there was no denying it, Danny's stomach was furiously starved, and he wasn't going to drop off back to sleep any time soon.

The dull throb inside of Danny's skull was also objecting to Danny's wish to sleep, so he groggily rose his head up wearily. A blanket gently wrinkled down his shoulders while Danny's ghost green eyes blinked and came into focus with the fresh pale morning light filtering through a tangerine stained window.

He intentionally decided to ignore the presence of the blanket that was now settled at his waist and not wonder where he had come from.

The events of yesterday's auspicious memories washed back into Danny's mind, causing his headache to become that much louder in his ears. He groaned as he could smell the strange scents of a rich, elaborately decorated house around him. Danny couldn't much describe the smell, it merely smelled like a large old house, and he didn't like it. Reluctantly, his eyes focused on the lifted patterns on a cream colored pillow that he was currently using as a- well- a pillow.

"Good morning and welcome to hell." Danny muttered under his breath as he flexed his fingers. Following his fingers, he went to stretching his slender limbs, legs first, and then his arms as he sat up properly on the couch. It was a relief to stretch his aching body, but Danny's head and stomach still roared angrily for attention.

Besides his body feeling like crap this morning, Danny's mind also felt like it was filled with cotton, or possibly something that looks like a brain, but really wasn't. Yawning, Danny peered down at his lap and paused to finally realize that he had legs. _Oh_. He was missing those. After being trapped in that lamp for so long, Danny hadn't been able to change the shape of his lower half. Even if he had wanted to, the lamp didn't have a lot of space, and his ghostly tail didn't fuss too much about its position. But Danny was glad to feel his feet touch the ground for now.

Lifting his gaze up, Daniel inspected his surroundings and noticed that he was still within the living room that he had been in last night. His lava lamp sat presently on the top of a coffee table a meter or so away from him. Scowling at it, Danny hunched his shoulders and let his fingers clench onto the soft cushions of the couch. Somehow, Danny had the feeling that Vlad had placed Danny's lamp there just to proudly rub in the fact that he was stuck where ever that lamp was.

A thought struck him.

Fortunately, it wasn't a book that hit him, but it was a big idea. Danny quickly got to his feet and went over to grab the lamp. He stopped for a second, though, and decided that he should be more careful with trying to pick up his lamp. He didn't exactly want to feel any more violated than he did since last night. So carefully, Danny wrapped his hands around the lamp. He felt nothing; as though he wasn't touching it. Raising a brow slowly, Danny shrugged his shoulders and went to pick up the lamp.

It didn't budge.

_Odd._ Danny tried to lift it again. This time, clenching harder. Nothing. The lamp wouldn't move. Danny released his grip, huffing irritably. He couldn't budge the simple lamp. It felt as if it was five hundred pounds of compact matter.

He tried again.

Five minutes later, Danny's body was screaming at him for being an abusive horrible owner. The lamp hardly moved in all his effort. The ghost boy had just barely been able to budge the lamp a few inches from its original place, but eventually his muscles gave out and he had to drop the small item. Danny sank down to the side of the coffee table, leveling his eyes to the lava lamp as he panted heavily.

Norm had been able to pick up that lamp... He remembered that weirdo genie was even capable of throwing the lamp, besides picking it up, so why couldn't he?! He stared at the innocent green light, wishing that it could spontaneously combust without harming him.

Danny had hopped he would have been able to pick up the lamp and simply walk out of the house with the thing under his arm, but clearly- unless he had muscles of steel- he was stuck here until he found another way out of this mess.

He needed another idea. But to get another idea, he also had to learn more.

Thinking of which was making his headache goad his mind off track. Danny mumbled as he took his head in his hands and crouched down. What had happened last night? Danny pictured Vlad's haunted expression when he watched his home get showered by innocent tangerines. The image made a vindictive smile creep across his lips. But his smile didn't stay for too long as his thoughts played out what had happened next. He couldn't help but feel his cheeks heat up at the mere memory of the interrogation before Vlad had made his last wish.

When Vlad made his third wish, Danny had lost consciousness. He could still remember the sensation; the tingle in his fingers uneasily. When he had made that wish, it felt like the blood had drained out from him the moment he clapped his hands. What little energy he had was gone in that second.

It was a distressing thought was managed to overshadow his prior thoughts of Vlad's dutiful hands on that despicable lamp.

Frowning at the idea of losing his stamina without physically exerting himself, something clicked within Danny's cotton-stuffed brain that reminded him of a large thick book.

Poof!

The guide to being a genie materialized in the air- its pages spread wide open. To Danny's favor, the book landed on the coffee table next to him, instead of his head. Danny's lava lamp toppled over due to the force of the heavy book landing next to it, and rolled off of the table. It thumped onto the carpet and stopped rolling after a foot or so. Danny stared at it bitterly. Oh sure, the mere slamming of a book could move it, but Danny couldn't even push it over if he poured all his might into that one effort.

Pretending to ignore the peacefully troublesome lamp, Danny turned to look over at the book and see it on the last pages that Danny had left it. His eyes scanned over the page and picked up a few important words.

_Also… Do not exert yourself._

Danny gave the book an incredulous look. Desiree should have described why he shouldn't 'exert' himself a little bit better. Had he known that he would have fainted, he might have thought about warning Vlad.

Danny paused in mid thought…

Then again, he wasn't sure if that really would matter, seeing as it was- after all- _Vlad_. He wouldn't possibly care if granting a wish made Danny feel like hot skewers were jabbing into his back or not. But it still would have been nice to know that he might lose consciousness, gain a headache the size of Jack's ego, and feel as though he was hit by a train before it happened.

Danny only muttered something about bad timing before something else also caught his eye. It was the last paragraph that he had read. His brows knitted together as he leaned over the book, his nose barely a few inches away from it.

_When granting a wish, every genie uses his or her own way of granting it. By saying this, I mean by the gesture of winking an eye, nodding a head, snapping fingers, clapping hands, wiggling a nose or even saying a phrase. You don't choose how you tap into your magic, it merely happens. You can't grant or use any of your magic if you are incapable of performing your signature gesture._

The first time Danny had read this, he didn't understand any of it. Quiet frankly, Danny didn't understand most of the book when he flipped through it. But this time, he finally realized what Desiree was writing about. _Well at least I don't get a weird nose twitch…_ Danny thought miserably.

Danny had clapped his hands three times. Each time was reluctantly due to Vlad making three wishes. Adding two and two together, Danny quickly figured that his ability to grant wishes required him to clap his hands… But wait, Danny paused and looked over the paragraph again- this time, more carefully.

_You don't choose how you tap into your magic, it merely happens…_

Danny wasn't concerned with what the sentence was about, but how it was pieced together. Had he really cared to know what it was like to be a genie- which he did now- Danny would have thought that Desiree would write something more like 'you don't choose how to grant your wishes, it merely happens.' But now this whole 'tap into your magic' thing was making Danny think hard.

Suspiciously, Danny raised his hands above the coffee table so that he could see them. It was a farfetched idea, Danny knew- but it couldn't hurt to try.

Danny closed his eyes and pictured a pair of jeans on him.

He clapped his hands. -poof!-

He opened his eyes to look down at a pair glorious jeans in place of his uncomfortably form fitting jump suit. Sweet, sweet glorious jeans.

Actually, they were no different to what he would normally wear, but after being stuck in a jumpsuit- and an enclosed space for so long, Danny was eternally relieved to be back in a pair of comfortable blue baggy jeans.

The one minor flaw in this was that Danny's jumpsuit was a one-piece, so as he looked above his pants and to his waist, he noticed that there was nothing covering his upper torso. He also noticed with a groan that his stomach felt that much emptier and his head felt two sizes too large on top of his shoulders.

"Well it's start." Danny said, half wincing as he shifted gingerly. He had hoped that with these powers to grant wishes, he might at least be able to ease his own discomfort after his test run, but clearly granting any more of his- or any one else's- requests was going to suck the energy dry from his bones.

He gazed back to the book on the coffee table charily. The stupid thing must have something about curing his horrible lack of energy…

_Energy…_One of Danny's eye brows rose thoughtfully.

The ghost boy-turned genie was about to flip through the pages of the large book to look up the chapter all about '_energy'_ when he was stopped by the sound of something rolling and a pair of faint footsteps.

Bitterly, Danny immediately knew that it wasn't Vlad that just walked into the living room. He was positive that Vlad would never take soft, dainty steps ever. It slightly disturbed Danny after he realized his detailed analysis on the older halfa. When the ghost boy raised his head, his qualms were assured. It was _not_ Vlad. Instead, it was a middle aged maid- stout, but timidly shaped, walking into the room pushing a trolley.

Thinking quick, Danny removed himself from the side of the table and planted himself right next to his lamp. Hey, if he couldn't pick up his lamp, Danny wasn't going to let any one pick up that lamp. Danny sat next to his cursed lamp, guarding it.

"Oh," The maid seemed to have only noticed the white haired teen when the boy moved. Danny looked at her like a cat might, analyzing her every movement. "You must be Danny," the female said, shifting uncomfortably under Danny's gaze.

It occurred to Danny that the maid wasn't looking directly at him. Danny arched a brow. What? He wasn't that frightening! Without his jumpsuit, Danny could only imagine that he looked like a teen with an odd fascination for white hair. While trying to look for a reason why the maid was averting her gaze, Danny looked down.

_Oh_

Shirtless… right. Danny temporarily left the side of his lamp to retrieve the blanket from the couch and sling it over his shoulders. By the time he looked back up at the maid, she was smiling shyly.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt you or anything…" She said. Danny had only to raise his hand to deny the need for an apology. Then- of course- he would have paused and wondered what she thought she was 'interrupting'. The maid looked slightly relieved any ways. Danny, on the other hand, was pondering why this maid was here with a trolley.

She must have read Danny's expression, because the next moment, she moved over to the side of the trolley- which, as Danny noticed, sported a silver platter with a dome-like plate covering it- and went to lift up the top.

The scent of sweet baked food settled in the air. Danny stared intently.

"Mr. Masters had asked me to provide you with something to eat…" The maid said simply- and for once- confidently. Danny didn't really have to guess that this maid was possibly the cook that made this food. The smile displayed across her face only pointed out the obvious that she was proud of her cooking.

Well that cleared Danny's suspicion of the food being poisonous.

"Uh… thanks." Danny said, but he didn't make a move to get up. He wasn't going to let any one touch his lamp.

The maid seemed to notice Danny's insecurity, and her smile banked for a moment to be replaced by an expression of curiosity and concern.

"Just call for Mrs. Amell, that's me, if you need anything…" The maid said and then tipped her head graciously. Her smile returned to her visage before she curtly turned on her heels and left Danny alone.

Warily, the ghost boy waited and watched as she turned around a corner. Then he waited for a moment until he couldn't hear her footsteps before he got up onto his feet and stalked over to the trolley like a scavenger that just got the smell of opportunity.

That was strange… Danny always imagined Vlad to be a sadistic vile billionaire, who wouldn't care if Danny was hungry or not. If anything, he had always pictured the idea that if he was ever caught in the grip of his arch nemesis, he would be shackled to a wall in a dungeon and eating bread crusts for meals.

This meal didn't look like anything he would have imagined. And there was quite a bit there too. No stale bread crusts either. Just layers of delicious home cooked meals waiting patiently to be eaten.

Danny's eyebrow twitched as he felt his stomach churn with apprehension. Danny wanted to eat- dreadfully. He knew it had only been two days, and he shouldn't really feel that hungry, but clearly granting wishes was a lot more tiring than Danny's mind had guessed.

So with a fleeting glance to the large book, Danny snagged himself what looked like a puffed up triangular pastry- which he later figured was what English people call a scone- and went to the side of the coffee table to learn about energy.

_Chapter Two: Energy_

_By some likelihood that you have found this chapter, I can only guess because you have just figured out how it feels like to lose a good quantity of your energy. If you are currently within a lamp, I have no advice for you except perhaps to preoccupy yourself without using any of your magic within the lamp. It will gradually return to you in due time. The lamp is considered your home; it supplies you with everything you need to life- literally- forever. But if you are removed from your haven, and lack the necessary energy to terrorize your master, you will need to actually do something to recover your energy. For a beginner, this shouldn't be hard to accomplish. Do what you normally would do before you became a genie…_

Danny snorted. What? Go ghost hunting? His muscles feel like they had been beaten by a paddle, how could he do something 'normal' when he felt like that? Danny munched away at a series of still warm pop-over muffins while he continued.

_... For those that have forgotten what it's like to be a mortal, or are too dimwitted to understand what 'normal' activity is, I mean to sleep- eat- and any other miscellaneous human activities…_

Oh.

_Even socializing or expressing emotion will help clear your aches while outside of your lamp. Of course, recovering through emotional experiences only happens when you are amused, excited, or any other positive expression. Taunting and or tormenting your master by merely nagging is always one was to entertain yourself without getting tired. _

_As mentioned in the prior chapter, your ability to grant wishes is affected by how much energy- or essence as some call it- you have. If you are a beginner, you may have figured this out when you granted wishes that involve large and outrageous things to occur that could never possibly happen without your presence…_

Danny frowned. Could making it rain small oranges from the sky be considered large and outrageous? Either Danny wasn't all that bad with this wish-granting thing, or the wish was simply stupid, not outrageous.

_In which case, you may already know that if you grant a wish that is far beyond your power, the wish will not happen. However, there are some cases where granting a wish just beyond your limits will happen and possibly leave you in a state of vulnerability._

Yeah, passing out certainly makes most people vulnerable.

_Again, to regain that lost energy while outside of your lamp, your best suggestion is to sleep and eat. Socializing is your choice, but it's one of the least admired. And I don't mean simply generating food in the air with a mere gesture, I mean real food._

Well that explained why Norm was cooking and omelet in the kitchen… Danny nibbled at a cooling crepe curiously before he noticed the slightly bitter taste of blueberry yogurt in the folds the thin pastry. He drew his head back, looked at it oddly, and went to get a cinnamon roll before he continued to read. All the while, he was becoming more and more aware that he was feeling a little bit better with each bite he made.

It felt unnatural- as if he had the metabolism of an athlete.

_Generating food in the air and merely eating it is really the equivalent to eating your own tail… _Ew_…and it may taste good, but it doesn't help you feel any better in the end._

_Energy isn't just used for granting wishes- you should be able to use your essence to your desire. Unfortunately, there are some limitations to your ability to use your essence freely. You cannot kill intellectual being unless your master wishes for it. Yes, humans count as intellectual begins. You cannot control other human life forms- body or mind- unless wished to do so, and you cannot go any further than twenty two feet from your lamp in any direction unless a wish requires you to step outside that diameter. Besides those three rules, you can do anything else- which includes driving your master mad…Unless your master wished you to stop…_

Thinking of which, where was that Crazed Up Fruit Loop any ways? Danny plopped another grape in his mouth and resumed reading.

_For a beginner, you may have some trouble using your own energy to provide comfort for yourself. When it comes to wishes- your essence reacts on its own without your general consent…_Figured that out already._ Of course, you are capable of changing the meaning of a wish by simply 'thinking' of another way to grant the wish. For example, a master wishes for all million dollars (the most common types of wishes) you can very easily picture the idea of stolen money being delivered to your master in a package that was undoubtedly tracked by authorities. It's all in the way you deliver your wishes. Simply having items materialize in at your masters' feet can only mean you aren't thinking fast enough before you perform your gesture._

Ah, finally, something helpful.

_Most of this will be described in the chapters of lawyers and loopholes. Getting back to the point… When granting your wishes, you do not have to worry about concentrating. But when trying to use your magic for your own desires, you have to concentrate very clearly on what you'd like. It can be troublesome for a beginner-_

Danny scoffed in a surly manner as he brought a glass of passion fruit away from his lips and stared at the pages. He was able to make a pair of pants appear- and that wasn't hard at all. He looked down at them. Yep… good looking pants… Danny didn't take the time to notice that one pant leg was a few centimeters longer than the other.

"Troublesome, huh?" Danny sniffed imprudently while he looked to his hands as he set the glass down.

Danny had the urge to prove Desiree wrong. And what better way to do that than to get a t-shirt on.

Danny closed his eyes and pictured his normal white and red t-shirt on him and then clapped his hands.

Clap! Poof!

See? There, nothing amiss… Danny looked down at his shirt and smiled proudly… until he noticed that one of the sleeves went down to his elbows.

"Okay, only a small mistake…" Danny frowned and closed his eyes again, pictured a t-shirt on him, then clapped his hands a second time, feeling some of his recovered strength wander away from him.

Clap! Poof.

Okay, plaid wasn't such a bad look… at least he managed to make the sleeves the right length. "Let's try that again," Danny grumbled as he forced his eyes shut.

Clap! Poof.

Before Danny could analyze anything, he felt the tight suffocating sensation of thin white fabric around his chest and neck. He gagged quickly and pulled himself up onto his feet. Without thinking, Danny went to remove the indescribably uncomfortable t-shirt by lifting it up over his shoulders and pulling it over his head.

Danny was nearly relieved of the nasty garment, but the t-shirt hitched at his shoulders as he tried to squirm out of it. Tugging furiously, Danny hardly noticed the calm footsteps step into the den and pause.

The ghost boy froze when he heard a lucid, regal voice clear his throat patiently.

"I hope I haven't interrupted anything..." Danny could almost hear the smirk that was presently plastered across the billionaire's face.

Danny resumed his struggle, with his arms up over his head in the futile effort to removing a top. All the while, Danny's heart decided to play tango with his lungs. And his stomach was giving them an encore. He couldn't quite understand why- but maybe it was because he had a bunch of fabric wrapped around his head and in a state of vulnerability.

That, or because he was aware that Vlad was probably staring at his half naked body.

"You know, that's the second time someone said that. I'm _not_ doing anything _bad_." Danny barked through the tight t-shirt as he grunted with his efforts to pulling the stupid garment over his shoulders and head.

"Well you do look like you are doing something. But what- I can only imagine."

"Up yours." Danny seethed as he finally managed to pull the top over his shoulders and toss it to the ground. Quickly, Danny went and adopted the blanket he left at his feet to hide his scrawny chest and shoulders.

After that, Danny remembered something very important, and retreated to his lamp to plop back down in his cross-legged fashion once more. This time, though, he sat with the lamp nestled between his open limbs. Vlad was not going to touch that lamp. Never again!

The older halfa appeared to realize what Danny was attempting to do, but merely smirked at the simple challenge and yawned.

Danny frowned at him. It hadn't occurred to him at first glance, but as Danny took another gander at Vlad's appearance, he could tell that the billionaire had only just woken up and stepped out from a shower. His hair was still damp even.

Danny paused to wonder why he had taken enough time to observe that.

Vlad didn't wait for Danny to thread through his disturbing thoughts as he stalked across the room to approach Danny casually. The genie raised his shoulders defensively, sank his head down, and leered up at the billionaire. Vlad pretended not to notice the deadly stare as he strolled around to the side of the coffee table to look down at the book placed there.

_Oh no…_ Danny's eyes grew wide. He can't let Vlad read anything from that book. It'll be like handing a video gamer a guide book on how to cheat! There could be no better metaphor that could describe how worried Danny was now.

_Disappear! Disappear you great stupid thing!_ The old brown book remained right where it was, and Vlad was already pleasantly leaning over to take a look at what was so interesting… Vlad wasn't so much as concerned about what was in that book, but the fact that it was apparently alarming Danny to all ends that he was looking at the book was what interested him.

Daniel really did need to learn how to keep a poker face.

Panicking in one place, Danny finally figured that the only way he was going to get rid of that stupid book was to make it disappear. He pictured the book hidden within the lamp furiously and then clapped his hands.

Clap! Vlad looked up at Danny at the exact moment when the book snapped shut and nearly bit off the halfa's nose before imploding into a mist of small green smoke.

Vlad pulled back instantly and raised his hand to cover his mouth as he stifled a few coughs.

"Butter biscuits," he uttered as soon as his short fit of coughing ended. Surprised and slightly irritated, Vlad's ice blue eyes darted over to a grinning Danny as he rocked smugly in place. His lips dipped down into a scowl.

"Where did that book go?"

Danny was about to say 'I don't know' but his voice deafened after the first breath of his lie, and was replaced with: "Right here…" and a gesture pointing down to the lamp sitting on its side in the open space between his crossed legs.

Danny shortly cursed under his breath as he had just remembered his inability to lie- thanks to Vlad's first wish.

From what Danny could tell; Vlad wasn't very amused by this. First the pale haired male just glared at Danny before his lips pulled back ever so slowly to let a neat row of white teeth show in a sly smile. Like usual, it wasn't a very altruistic smile and it only reached up to his ears. His eyes remained cold and evil.

"What was that book about, Daniel?" Vlad said as he turned so that he fully faced Danny. He took one step forward.

Danny leaned back slightly, looking poised like a snake as his reached his hands down to clasp onto the lamp.

"I'm not going to tell you." Danny said, his lower lip rising above his other in a defiant pout.

Vlad took another step forward, and Danny's expression faltered as Vlad's unchanging smirk only grew a bit wider. Unknowingly, Danny's heart rate was rising.

"Tell me." Vlad ordered calmly. Another step closer. Danny now had to crane his head up to look at Vlad's tall form, standing no less than a food away from him. Danny's fingers tightened around the lamp- refusing to give in to the shivers that snuck over his shoulders.

"Say please." Danny answered back, glaring up at him. Well at least telling the truth didn't limit his ability to be sarcastic.

"Must I do this the hard way?" Vlad asked casually. Danny was about to open his mouth to rudely answer Vlad's question with an obvious '_yes'_ but his intention was quickly petrified when Vlad sank down to Danny's level and let an agile hand quickly take it's place to the side of the ghost boy's jaw. It wasn't violent or anything… But Danny wasn't sure if it alarmed him more that the touch was surprisingly gentle.

Nothing like he had ever expected.

Danny froze with his eye locked onto Vlad's, which scarcely strayed a few inches from his. As he stared into those depths, Danny could smell the fragrance of something sweet, but not too sweet. It was dull enough so that he could notice the smell of his hair, his skin…and his breath… It was _minty._

Danny abruptly felt that much more hotter, especially around his cheeks and ears. Vlad's smile only seemed to grow- and for once- reach his eyes. Danny could feel the man's thumb just barely trace the soft frame of his jaw as he chuckled airily. Danny stared, paralyzed.

Danny only found where all of his motor skills went as soon as Vlad's other hand slinked down. The genie just hardly caught sight of Vlad's hand dipping down towards his legs.

Forget the tango; Danny's heart was jumping in a rave, pumped on shots of ecstasy.

Danny quickly released his clenched hands and brought them up to push Vlad away fast enough to keep him from doing _whatever_ he was intending to do with that curious hand. His cheeks flushed red, Danny had just barely pushed the palms of his hands onto Vlad's onyx suit as a means to shove him away when the billionaire pulled back on his own consent. In place of his real smile was a bemused smirk as Vlad looked down his nose at Danny's flustered form while he pulled himself back up from his knees.

In Vlad's grasp, he was holding Danny's lamp.

Danny's jaw dropped open.

_Damn it!_

----

To be continued…

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**If you were expecting sex… you were mistaken. Hah-hah. **


	8. Chapter 8

Let me paint the picture of my working conditions (exaggerations are to be expected from the deranged.) … Cold frosty room- the windows have been sealed over with ice and the thermostat is collecting icicles from its meter. Me- wrapped in at least five layers of blankets and a pair of fingerless gloves. Sometimes, I spend countless hours trying to prefect one line over and over again. But I'm not cold, or complaining… Oh no, I have this wicked little smile spread across my chapped lips. Listening to my music, I ignore the chatter of my teeth and chortle over the great reviews I've been getting while I write this.

I'll never feel cold while writing this, thanks to the reviews you have all been posting … But it'd do a lot of good if the computer I was using had the internet…hm.

Chapter eight, be careful what you wish for…

Morning arrived like it normally should. Only Vlad wasn't sure if he should expect anything normal today, more than ever since last night hailed tangerines. If the time of day relied on the normality of prior events, the day would have arrived late in the afternoon, followed by midnight and then possibly dooms day right after tea time. At least, this is what Vlad metaphorically thought about…

Danny was curled up like a little grey hound down in his den.

Trapped.

Caught.

And all his.

That was enough for Vlad to assume that today was going to be anything but normal.

But to his humor, the sun did rise at its normal time; shyly peeking over the flat plains of Wisconsin and daring to slither into Vlad's bed chambers. It was morning, but Vlad had woken up more than an hour before the sun. Vlad stood patiently, waiting for the dawn to catch up. And he was growing impatient.

Twice, his will was beaten furiously by angst and he silently phased down into the depths of his den. Twice, he went to check up on a sleeping teen, coiled up on a couch and remaining blissfully unaware of the dark ice blue eyes watching the shallow breaths escape his lungs. Twice, Vlad had resisted the urge to tug at the boy's hair snow white to wake him up and make yet another delightful wish.

After the second time, Vlad was caught by a small ghost of his guilt that crossly sent him back to his room to wait for the signs of morning to kiss the sky. He had to wait…

He could wait… A calm smile swept across his face as he brushed the delicate line of his goatee.

Danny wouldn't be able to leave here… Even if he did, he wouldn't go very far with the energy he had. It surprised Vlad to no end when he had seen the boy collapse for no apparent reason after his third wish. This was also the reason why Vlad thought better than to let the boy wake up on his own.

It was either Danny had been trapped in that Christmas package for days, or the boy's energy was sapped from him when granting wishes, just like his ghostly wail might do to him. Vlad suspected that it might have been both of the two options. In any case, seeing the boy faint alarmed him…

The fact that he was alarmed by this further surprised Vlad.

Admittedly, Vlad had lost a bit of his victory mood as soon as he turned to see the ghost hero sprawled out on the carpet, unconscious. It wasn't just the fact that Danny had fainted, but because Vlad didn't know why.

Was he ill? Did he contract some form of disease when was trapped in that lamp? Knocking out Daniel was entirely different when he knew exactly what was happening to the anatomy of the boy's body when an ecto-blast takes him in the chest. But just simply collapsing was a whole different thing. For all Vlad could know, the boy's heart could have burst.

Simply put, Vlad was worried that the boy would not get up.

Odd really… Two years he has known the boy, and battled against him dozens of times in that period. Albeit, the fights were often one-sided, but nevertheless, Vlad has knocked the boy out a few times. He has even come near to killing him- during some of his more temperamental moments- and besides all these prior events, Vlad still has the small duo of emotions- pity and concern- rage war against his motives.

And they usually win. Countless times, Danny has been at the mercy to Vlad's sympathy and concern for more than a year now.

This time was no different. The moment he had spotted Daniel crumpled to the floor, he felt as though his next step had accidentally missed the ground.

Danny would forever remain oblivious to how worriedly Vlad had checked the boy's vitals and- in a small way- panicked. He had shortly forgotten that the boy was in his ghost form still, and thus did not have a pulse. After fretting for close to five minutes, Vlad had eased his nerves enough to know that the boy was not dead- just asleep.

Since the boy was okay, from what Vlad could see, his concern was quickly replaced with indignant anger. Daniel made him fret. No one makes Vlad fret. Ever. Why that little brat.

After putting the child onto the couch and settling a blanket over his slim shoulders, Vlad had decided that he was going to get that boy back for making him fret. But how to do it was the question…

And he still wasn't sure what the answer was even now as he stood before the balcony to his bed room, glaring back out to the shy sun hidden under fading clouds. He could not conceive the perfect little plan to get back at Daniel Fenton.

Hurting him would have been an oxymoron. Granting wishes was already in store for young Daniel- payback or not; and taunting him about being separated from his family sounded too cruel- besides making it more likely for the ghost-boy to try attacking him as well. No, he had to do something to make the boy feel just as panicked as he did. Unfortunately, Vlad was near to positive that Danny did not harbor similar feelings that he secretly owned, so feigning his own misfortune would be out of the question. More likely, it would make the child gloat.

Oh, don't get him wrong... Vlad had a myriad of ideas that he could use, but many of them were distilled by that little emotion called shame.

In his frustration, Vlad had given up trying to think of punishments and reverted to considering what he could do with three more wishes…

What could a man who has almost everything at his finger tips wish for?

Vlad didn't ponder too long about the idea when he noticed the faint foot falls of one of his few house maids. Vlad could tell because, after all, he hears them almost every day in his mansion, moving about doing their chores. He could easily guess one servant from another by the way their footsteps sounded. Amusing, really.

Vlad frowned as he remembered something in the process of listening to the maid pass by. He turned and stepped out from his room to address the servant. The poor, unsuspecting maid had jumped slightly when the large doors to Vlad's room swung open, and the wide-awake house owner poked his head out to catch her just walking by.

"Amell, is it?" Vlad asked rhetorically as he studied her short, blushing features.

The maid stood to attention, clipping her heels together with her hands stiffly pressed against her sides.

"Masters, sir, yes." The maid said, looking like a scared mouse standing on guard. Vlad frowned briefly. Logically, he is often amused by the human servants he has, and their irrational fears for him. No doubt, they spread rumors of their master having interactions with supernatural ghosts. It was true- but everyone calls it a rumor for fear of Vlad finding out. Right now, Vlad simply was too distracted to find her nervous blush amusing.

"There is a guest down in the first living room," Vlad failed to notice the surprised look on the maid's face. Visitors were very rare, especially ones that are un-announced. "His name is Daniel and I believe he is famished after his long trip here."

The maid really didn't need to know anything else. Her expression lit up with a bright enthusiastic smile while Vlad finished his request. "Have some meals made up for him."

"What shall I serve, sir?"

"Anything… Be creative, if you must." Vlad said and thus looked away from the maid and dipped his head back into his room, thereby closing the door right afterwards. The maid paused hesitantly as her heart blossomed with innocent joy. The maid, Amell, loved to cook. It was only half the reason why she wished to work here. Even though Vlad didn't have a lot of visitors- whenever he did, he always did treat them with eternal graciousness.

Without another thought, the maid spun on her heels and made her way down to the kitchens to cook.

As for Vlad, he had decided to take a long shower to preoccupy himself long enough for Daniel to wake up and eat. But taking a shower did not distract the billionaire from exploring his methods of getting the child back for distressing him.

He couldn't think of a single decent method until the opportunity for it showed up with Daniel sitting protectively over his lamp.

Vlad couldn't resist. It was like the boy had just walked right into that one. Oh, and the results were more than relishing. Not only did he get the chance to possibly terrify the living- or dead- day lights out of him, but he also was greeted with a spectacular blush that spread across the young boy's face before he realized that he had swiped Daniel's lamp.

_Good,_ Vlad thought as his smirk spread across his lips. He was reacting the way Vlad had predicted, which could only mean that the boy was perfectly healthy- if not, then maybe a little shell shocked from the unanticipated trick.

Daniel's jaw dropped, but he was speechless. Vlad simply found himself basking in the smug little victory of possible confusion that he had just inflicted. It was fun… and besides that, Vlad had earned the knowledge that Daniel's jaw was extraordinarily soft. The boy was always a late bloomer, Vlad thought vindictively. He probably wouldn't begin to gain facial hair for another year or so.

Now that Vlad had Daniel's lamp, and since the boy suddenly became aware of what he could do now that it was in his grasp, the boy stiffened, blushed more, and stared up at him like scared little grey hound.

The look was just too irresistible. But Vlad had self-restraint. Instead of possibly doing something rather vile to Daniel, Vlad merely smiled and let his index finger trail the side of the lamp.

Vlad watched as Danny attempted to hide the shudder sneak down his shoulders. He almost accomplished hiding it, but the boy's growing blush betrayed him.

Vlad smirked. Fun…fun.

But now he had to see what he could do with a wish-granting Daniel before he could have any more fun. That book was now one of the few things that he wanted to get- and if he had to wish for it, so be it… Whatever was in that book must have been important- or personal. Either was good.

He casually moved across the room, all the while he purposely made small soft circling motions on the glass of the lamp in an informal manner. He paused to notice the trolley, and numerous selections of meals on it. Vlad arched a brow. He hadn't thought that his maid would have made that much. But perhaps that was a good thing, seeing as a good portion of the food was gone.

"My, I see you were very hungry," he said casually as he brought his free hand up to pick up an untouched crepe and study it curiously. He liked those… Placing it back down, Vlad looked over to Danny to see that he had his shoulders raised and head dipped down- a defensive method to keep predators from getting at their necks. Vlad smirked again.

"And you seem well enough to resent me, too."

Danny glowered; his hands had retreated to clenching his ankles in his Indian sitting position. "Once I get out of this," Danny started- Vlad looked at Daniel expectantly as he listened. Danny forcefully carried on, sounding like he had venom in each word he uttered. "I'm going to make you wish you were-"

"Careful Daniel, remember you can't lie?" Vlad said.

The billionaire was unaffected by the gravity of Daniel's threat- and just to prove it; he strummed three of his digits against the top of the lamp. Daniel's head ducked down abruptly as if someone was tapping on his head.

"Then I'm not lying when I say that you should wish for a cat." Danny barked back while he raised a hand to rub his head.

Bitterly, Vlad was a little disappointed that Danny's sarcasm appeared to be unaffected by his vital change from ghost boy to genie. Snorting slightly, Vlad 'accidentally' made his thumb jab into the side of the lamp. In response, Danny shot up onto his feet abruptly, looking like he had just been shoved in the back.

"That's an opinion, and it would be better off if you avoid saying them." Vlad said, closing his eyes and looking temporarily aggravated. Inwardly, Vlad was enjoying this banter- since he knew that Danny was simply going to get himself hurt if he tried to verbally fight back. Danny must have been aware of this too, seeing as he wasn't about to object with Vlad's 'light' threat.

"Now what am I going to wish for?" Vlad thought out loud. Danny opened his mouth, ready to give a list of cheeky ideas that would probably insult Vlad rather than answer his question. But Danny stopped the moment he caught the glint in the corner of Vlad's ice blue eyes.

He was daring him.

Danny closed his mouth and narrowed his eyes indignantly at Vlad for trying to lead him into such a trap. The billionaire felt one corner of his lips turn up as he noticed Danny's glare. There was one thing about Daniel that wasn't late- he was always a quick learner.

"Oh, I know…" Vlad turned to face Daniel, the boy shrank down.

"I wish for the complete series of Edgar Allen Poe," Vlad said, knowing that the boy had been expecting something completely different.

Nevertheless, the boy's vacant expression did not impede the actions of his hands as they rose and clapped together loudly.

Abruptly, a series of aged, hard covered, and leather bound books appeared in a crackling gust of green smoke. Next followed a few scraps of paper with ribbon that held them neatly together. They all appeared on after another on the carpet, and some on the coffee table.

When the wish was granted, Vlad counted at least fifteen books scattered about. This wasn't exactly what he had expected.

"I was hoping for copies… not the originals." Vlad said, smirking idly as he stepped over one stack of books to look at the covers. He could see an old scratchy hand writing on some of them. Possibly by Edgar himself. He could even smell the old scent of liquor on them. Interesting…

Danny, in contrast, slouched a little as he blew out a sigh. "Then you should be more specific-" the genie stopped and put a hand over his mouth, looking shocked. Vlad arched a brow curiously at this.

"I'll keep that in mind…" He said evenly as he watched Daniel suspiciously. "But in the mean time, I wish for these books to be put into my library." He said plainly. Danny clapped his hands and the books disappeared. Danny, scowled, looking as though he had been trying to fight back his attempts to grant Vlad his 'simple' wishes.

"And of course…I wish for three more wishes." He said, finding it absolutely entertaining to see Danny so harassed.

Clap! Danny uttered a small "Damnit!" under his breath. Vlad chuckled at this and retreated heedlessly to his chair that was positioned near to the unlit fire place. Daniel shot Vlad a fatal glare as the billionaire sat back comfortably, ignoring every one of Daniel's venomous looks.

Closing his eyes, Vlad sat back, feigning the look of being at complete peace. He knew this would irk Daniel further because he was purposely putting his guard down in front of his ghostly arch enemy. In other words, Vlad was not taking Daniel's looks of pure loathing seriously.

"… I wish for a cup of tea."

Clap! Vlad opened his eyes with the expectancy of seeing a tray before him, adorning a cup of tea and a tea pot next to it. Instead, what his eyes saw was a large tea cup, hovering in the air just over his head. The billionaire arched a brow- dawning a vague questioning look across his demeanor. Then it switched from blank, to surprise as he saw what it was about to do.

It tipped forward.

----

Danny wished he could have recorded the sound of Vlad's voice the instant scolding hot tea poured out from the cup and onto the man's lap.

_Serves him right,_ thought Danny as he stood with his arms folded at his chest while stifling back a haughty laugh as Vlad leapt out from his chair. _Serves him damn right!_ Danny could give dozens of reasons why he did that- excluding the fact that he was reminded of the time his mother had served Vlad tea when he had been at his home after unleashing Pariah Dark.

First of all, he really, _really_ wanted to get back at Vlad for pulling that stunt just to snatch his lamp. He felt horribly degraded the moment he realized that Vlad wasn't- in fact- trying anything nasty. He may have insinuated it, but it was Danny who was blushing like a school girl, not Vlad. His nerves were still frayed even now as he watched Vlad fan his pants with his hands. Frayed, and possibly confused still.

Second of all, Danny was testing what he could do with wishes that are poorly wished for. Seeing that Vlad was already fanning his waist and creating a soft aggravated sound, his test proved to work very well.

Third, and most of all, Danny was feeling so harassed that if Vlad had attempted one of his taunting prods to his lamp, Danny was sure he would have leapt at the man to try and get that lamp from out of his hands. Pouring hot tea on his lap proved to work better than he had thought, because Vlad had released the lamp and it thumped onto the floor. He could still feel the odd sensation of the billionaire's thumb tracing over the lamp in a circular formation…

_Damn him!_ Danny had bit down onto his tongue to keep himself from whimpering all that time that Vlad had ever-so casually prodded the lamp. It was clear to Danny that Vlad knew what it did to Danny- and it scared him slightly that Vlad had intended to inflict this form of discomfort onto him.

It was a new way of torture, and Danny was beginning to think it was the worst yet. A small part of him quietly begged to differ- but Danny ignored that little voice angrily.

Vlad recovered from the hot sting of tea and was now looking at Danny with a deadly glare, standing still with is legs apart to avoid feeling the cooling damp tea against his thighs.

"I wish the tea was cleaned up." Vlad hissed under his breath. Danny quickly tried to twist the words around in his mind, but he couldn't think of a way to mix up the billionaire's wish and clapped his hands, making all of the tea vanish from Vlad's legs. Vlad straightened up curtly once his pant legs were dry and leered down at Danny in a dangerous fashion. Danny only glared back at him, refusing to let himself shudder under his ice blue eyes.

"I wish for five more wishes…" Danny fidgeted uncomfortably at hearing his words. He spread his arms apart and clapped his hands. All this wish granting was bringing back his headache and empty stomach, not to mention a new sensation of light-headedness… Unaware, Danny was absently swaying on his feet for at least a few seconds before he caught himself and straightened up stiffly to meet his light blue eyes with Vlad's fierce glare. Danny didn't want Vlad to realize he was feeling tired already. But to Danny's discomfort, Vlad appeared to have already noticed.

Danny feigned an impolite smirk in hopes that it would lead Vlad to ignore Danny's brief waver in strength.

"I guess I should warn you to be careful what you wish for."

"Then I won't be making that mistaken again." Vlad said. As he did, he moved across the room to pick up Daniel's lamp, but before he could get halfway to it, the distant echo of someone knocking at his mansion door halted him. Danny- who was unacquainted with the sounds of the mansion- jumped a little to turn and look out from the den entrance. Vlad didn't pay much attention to it, and picked up the fallen lava lamp- which brought Danny's concentration back to the billionaire with a small yip.

"That was a dirty trick…" Vlad went on. Danny knew- some how- from the tone of the man's voice that he was in store for something bad. Heck, he expected something bad was in store for him the instant Vlad had hot tea splashed onto his lap. Nevertheless, the voice had a hidden dagger that glinted dangerously when Vlad spoke and it only made Danny quietly dread a bit more. Danny could only guess what Vlad would do now, and most of them weren't very pleasant. In the midst of his thoughts, he watched as Vlad proceeded one delicate step forwards. Danny's mind hitched back with an even better idea of what was going to happen and a light red tint started to creep its way across Danny's cheeks.

But to Daniel's relief, a maid stepped into the living room before Vlad could take one more step closer. It was at that point that Danny had realized he was blushing again. When he darted his eyes over to the only maid that he recognized from earlier today, Vlad's thoughts had also derailed and looked to the maid in an irritable fashion.

Amell bit her lip for a moment before she tipped her head down in an apologetic manner.

"I-I'm sorry, Mr. Masters, but the police are at the door…" She said, sounding a little worried. Both Danny and Vlad looked at her in a half-shocked manner. The maid averted her gaze down to her shoes which matched her uniform. "…uh…said something about… Tangerines."

Danny paused as he let this idea sink in. Vlad, on the other hand, appeared to be a lot quicker with realizing this, and looked back to Daniel, giving him a sore glare before he turned and started his way out of the den to take care of some positively confused officers.

The billionaire paused and went to set the lava lamp back down on the coffee table before he left the room.

The moment Vlad had stepped out of the room Danny expelled a sigh of relief and wearily crumpled to his knees. Danny had forgotten that Amell was still there and he jumped a little when he noticed the maid inaudibly move over to the trolley. She appeared to be just as fidgety as Danny was- albeit for different reasons. Danny was relieved, but the maid was probably just as confused as the officers' were about the exceedingly large amount of fruit sitting in drifts of snow outside of Vlad's home. She wordlessly removed herself and the trolley from the room, allowing Danny a moment of solitary.

In that time, Danny began to pick out and chisel away at his choices of actions. It was no use trying to deny that he has become a genie in just under two days. He had hoped that the book would have explained a way for him to get out of this mess- but the only option he could see that he had was to find someone to replace him in this cursed lamp. Vlad in his ghost form could work, but Danny was beginning to realize how hard it might be to provoke Vlad to making his last wish in his ghost form… It sounded, to Daniel, more reasonable to find Norm and get him back into that lamp.

But he couldn't go after him when he was stuck here… Hell, he couldn't fix anything being Vlad's lap dog.

He needed help…

Danny eyes lit up and he straightened his back to raise his head and look around himself warily. He strained his ears, but Danny was sure he would have never been able to hear Vlad converse of the officers… So Danny just had to hope that he had time to do this…

The boy forced his eyes close and focused on a simple cell phone.

Nimbly, the genie clapped his hands together. Poof! A cell phone clattered onto the floor at Danny's knees. He blinked his eyes open to look at the phone.

He was hopping to have a blue covered phone, but pink was fine. It didn't matter much any ways. Snatching up the phone, Danny flipped it open, turned it on. It worked. He squinted down at the phone while he dialed one of his friend's cell phone numbers.

Ring… Ring… Ring… Danny chewed on his lip impatiently as he cast his eyes from the phone to the den entrance.

Someone answered his call. The person didn't sound too pleased, but to Danny's favor, he knew it was someone he could trust.

"Uhr… Who is this…? Do you know what time this is?" Danny heard Sam's voice.

"It's me, Danny-" There was a sharp gasp on the other end of the line.

"Where are you?" Sam said, sounding like she was now wide awake.

"Wisconsin, now Sam- I need you to-"

"What are you doing there?!" Sam's voice rose quickly, but then hushed down to an urgent whisper. "You're parents are freaking out, you know that?"

Danny felt a small welt of guilt form in his chest, but he scrubbed it aside- he had to hurry before Vlad returned.

"No, look- I have to get you and Tucker to do something for me if I want to get back home."

"So what's the plan?"

----

To be continued…

----

**This has been the hardest chapter I had to write as of yet. Ooh boy- but it was fun! Reviews would be loved!**


	9. Chapter 9

Sorry this is late, I checked an atlas while trying to figure out where exactly Norm would first target a place in Canada. I wanted to be accurate, so I am going to assume that when Norm crossed the boarder, he crossed it going through Wisconsin, and Minnesota, which would lead to the Ontario or Manitoba- the closest Canadian provinces. I'm not going to write too much detail about this because of my fear of inaccuracy, and the possibility of offending readers. I also had to find out what the reporters name was… took me some time to find it. Oh, I also had to see what kind of neck wear that Vlad has… I don't know what it's called, so I'm merely assuming it's a tie of some sort.

Warning: Slash… or something daringly close to it. You be the judge on that.

Chapter nine, Sleeping game

----

"So… tell me again, why are we sneaking into Danny's parents' lab at six in the morning, and 'borrowing' the specter speeder without their permission?"

Tucker was yawning in the process of speaking, but Sam understood the jest of it as she opened the vertical doors leading into the round cylindrical ship known as the Fenton Specter Speeder.

"Because Danny asked us to." Same answered while she retrieved the Fenton Thermos out from her knapsack. Tucker looked at her apprehensively as she also pulled out one of Jack's usual- and dangerous- ghost guns.

"Ah." He said tiredly. Then he arched a brow slowly as he felt another question rise to the surface of his half-asleep mind.

"…So… why am I holding a second-hand vacuum cleaner?"

At this, Sam blew out a sigh and straightened up to face Tucker after pulling on her ebony winter jacket. No matter what the weather was Sam always dressed in black. Just like Tucker, who- though he doesn't try- often resembles a geek in all weather.

"Ur… Well Danny didn't have a lot of time to explain that to me… It sounded as though he had just figured that one out too… You sure it's a 'Smoof' brand?"

Tucker checked again for the sake of reassuring Sam. Yawning as he did, he turned the bulky old vacuum cleaner so that the bold font of 'Smoof' was in view to the goth.

"Yep." The techno geek said as he slowly began to wake up. Sam looked at the item doubtfully, but shrugged off her concerns. Danny had told her to find something smoof related that could contain things. After a short note of confusion, Danny had also stated that Monty's Used Second Hand was likely to have something… 'smoofy'.

Sam still wasn't sure if the item was going to be any good, but Danny said for her to take it.

"Let's go." Sam said confidently after shoving aside her worry. With only two words to be said, Tucker had marched into the specter speeder and placed the vacuum securely to one side. Sam soon followed, closing the door as soon as she was in.

"So… We're going to Canada to find someone called 'Norm'?"

"A genie, I think."

"You mean like Desiree?"

"That's what I said, but Danny said Norm was a little different." Sam said as she took her place in the drivers' seat. With the extra set of keys that Danny had hid within the Fenton lab for just a special occasion, Sam turned on the engine and the Specter Speeder slowly purred to life. Tucker retreated to the chair next to Sam and leaned forward to look at the dash board and the newly installed screen on it. He reached over and pressed a button that turned on the screen.

"… So… how are we going to find him? Canada isn't exactly small…"

"Danny said it should be fairly easy." Sam said- remaining firm with the idea that Danny knew exactly what he had told her over the phone. Tucker still appeared reluctant as he watched Sam gently coax the Spector Speeder into drive and flicked a number of switches that made the engine roar impressively.

By now, the Fenton's would have noticed the faint rumble of the hidden garage door sliding open.

Tucker and Sam sat back calmly, having become perfectly acquainted to using the vehicle in other experiences, but their tensions were high. The circumstances were far too odd to take in as easily as the two liked. At least two days ago, after school, their best friend Danny had forgot to show up at the mall. In fact, Danny forgot to show up ever since he had gotten out of detention. Sam and Tucker had veiled their concern, since they both knew better than to fret over the absence of Danny Phantom.

But Danny Fenton's parents didn't take it too lightly when their only son didn't return that night. The only piece of information they gained- from what Sam and Tucker could see- was from Mr. Lancer, who was the last one to see him.

The only thing Jack and Maddie learned was that Danny had a very odd fashion statement that morning, and that he appeared to be in a hurry to leave.

A new fall of snow flakes sprinkled the window shield of the ghost hunting ship. Any minute now, Jack and Maddie were going to be rushing outside to see their Specter Speeder being 'borrowed' into the grey sky. While this happened, Tucker leaned over the dash board to plug in his PDA. Sam had no clue what Tucker was doing as she steered the ship high into the sky and away from the Fenton's house. But she soon found out when the screen on the dash board flickered to life to a news channel.

In the right hand corner of a T.V program, the words 'CBC' appeared in three nearly basic colors; red, blue, and green. Canadian Broadcast Channel. The image of a news reporter smiled patiently at the screen and began to speak. Tucker turned up the volume.

"…is still rampaging through out Winnipeg, Reporter Lance Thunder is here with the story…" The female news reporter shuffled her paper neatly while a small scene blipped up on the top right, showing a blond haired man dressing in snow gear holding a mike in one hand, and the other adjusting the ear piece hanging in his ear.

"I can't believe I moved over here to do this… What, I'm on?" The man growled under his breath before he realized he was on air and looked at the camera smartly, flashing a white smile.

"Thank you, Angela, Lance here standing in Manitoba's capital city, Wennipeg- and all hell has broken loose since the supernatural dysfunction of a wandering stranger set an apartment building and two stores aflame." There was a pause as the reporter glanced over his shoulder and noticed a screaming civilian run across the scene in the background. Faintly, Tucker and Sam could hear maniacal laughter as a walking blue flame chased after a number of terrified Canadians.

"No one had been injured in the incident, but Canadian officials are having trouble trying to deal with this vigilante-" another blue flaming creature leapt by in the background, and the news reporter looked to be terrified and backed away from the camera.

The camera tilted to one side, and someone's tanned face poked out from the corner and peeked into the lens to look out at all the people watching the broadcast. He made a fantastic smile and raised his brows. His eyes were hidden under a pair of shades.

"Hello Canada!... I just want to give my thanks to my mum before I destroy you all… and… " The man paused, and raised his lip in thought. "… have I nice day!" He said, his grin nearly passing his ears before he spun around to look at the reporter, whom by now had staggered and fallen backwards.

The figure approached and raised his hand to snap his fingers- another blue flaming beast erupted through the air and leapt at the reporter. The rest of the scene was blocked by the back of the tanned figure, laughing wickedly. Through all the noises, Sam and Tucker cringed as they heard a familiar scream and a set of words.

"Not the face! Not the face!"

"Well… at least we know where he is…" Tucker said, as he stared at the screen. The camera man appeared to have dropped his equipment and went running. Sam was also staring, but caught herself quick enough to notice that she was dipping the ship downwards accidentally.

Swerving back up onto their air level, Sam uneasily blew out a sigh. _What has Danny gotten himself into now? _She thought worriedly, and then set the coordinates of their destination to Winnipeg.

----

Daniel had gotten himself into a lot of trouble…

Vlad was fuming so much that he had failed to hear a number of the officer's questions and was forced to ask the man to repeat himself multiple times. Tea, tangerines, terrible. Vlad was so close to hurting the boy while he stood at the door that he unconsciously clenched his fingers every time he answered one of the police officer's questions. The officer wasn't so much of a trouble to deal with, but it was the news paper reporters that had tagged along when they had heard of the outrageous tangerine headline that really irked the billionaire.

Vlad had answered them with as much truth that he could muster.

In other words, Vlad lied through his teeth, and no one could assume that he ever was.

The officer seemed to be satisfied with the fact that Vlad didn't know how the tangerines had ended up on his roof and lawn. The billionaire had even done some wonderful acting of looking appalled by the sight of small oranges nestled across his land.

"I thought it was hail last night." Vlad had said, feigning the look of awe as he gazed out behind the reporters and officer.

Thankfully, the police officer appeared to be content with Vlad's answers and had later asked if he may have them removed and carted off into town. Vlad gladly allowed this. The reporters, unfortunately, didn't appear to be satisfied with the idea that Vlad _didn't_ know how the tangerines had gotten there. Vlad had to endure dozens of questions that pushed at his mental buttons.

"Do you think it may have been rebellious teens?" Vlad counteracted that question incredulously with "How many teens would you think would bother putting the effort to pelting that many oranges at my house?"

"Did you leave them out here as gifts to charity?" Vlad paused when answering this one, and later stated that if he had placed them there then yes he would have- but in the case that he did not- like now- there was no foundation to this question.

"Do you have a fetish for fruit, Mr. Masters?" The last question had made Vlad's eyebrow twitch precariously before he slammed the door on the reporters.

"Idiots…" Vlad growled under his breath and slapped his forehead with his hand as he turned around and started back for his living room.

He had spent more than twenty minutes squabbling with the guests at the door, and each minute that dragged by, Vlad had considered whether he should revoke his earlier decision about not hurting young Daniel. By the time he reached the doors of his living room, his choice was tottering on the edge as he viciously gritted his teeth. He could already picture Danny stifling back a giggle as soon as he stepped in.

However, to his surprise, Vlad stepped in to see that Daniel was sleeping again.

The white haired teen was coiled up once again under a blanket- his bare shoulders partially revealed- and sleeping on the long embroidered couch. Vlad narrowed his eyes vituperatively. The boy's head was craned up, resting back into the comforts of a cream colored pillow and his mouth was slightly open, which generated a soft snoozing sound that passed the boy's lips.

Vlad's expression grew askance as he stared down at the boy, _innocently_ sleeping. The billionaire clenched his fist irately as he drew up to the boy. Daniel continued to sleep, unaffected by the daggers in Vlad's eyes as he looked at the boy resentfully. How could that boy fall to sleep right after being petrified like a stump by Vlad's imperial glower? Twenty minutes, and Vlad had thought that the boy would have tried to find a means of escape from here, but apparently sleep seemed far more important.

Vlad took that as an insult…

Yet, he wasn't sure if the child was just very tired from making wishes, or trying to avoid getting hurt. In any case, the fact that Danny had fallen to sleep in just under twenty minutes felt like a sharp sting to Vlad's potent ego. The billionaire cast the boy one more dark look before he straightened up and released a sigh. He had been prepared to 'teach' Daniel a lesson about why no one ever dares to berate him, yet that lesson will have to wait…

Vlad didn't have the heart to wake up Daniel- he looked too innocent for that.

Growling in his throat, Vlad turned away and picked up the green lava lamp delicately from the coffee table. Daniel shifted slightly and closed his mouth, but he did not wake up. Vlad narrowed his eyes. He was finding his emotions were becoming a lot harder to deal with as of late. Or maybe it was the fact that he had failed to sleep much last night.

Blaming his frustrations on the lack of sleep sounded immature to Vlad, but he decided to let himself blame it anyways. He held Danny's lamp neatly to avoid waking the child up and then retreated to his arm chair. There, he placed the lamp next to him as he leaned back into his chair and crossed his legs.

Vlad Masters rested his head back and closed his eyes, feeling the strain of his frown still pull at his face. With a tired growl, Vlad released the frustrated look from his demeanor and relaxed his shoulders.

Once Daniel was awake, he would resume his torment on the poor boy… but for now- Vlad took a moment to cast a sideways glance at Daniel's sleeping form- he will just have to wait…

----

It worked! It _actually_ worked!

Danny was busy restraining himself from moving in his small bubble of joy as he pretended to sleep humbly on the couch. He forced himself to avoid smiling in his 'sleep' by concentrating on slowly breathing and keeping his eyes sealed shut gently.

He had just figured out a way to hide from Vlad's tyranny!

He was hiding in plain sight- dreaming! Or at least, making it look like he was dreaming. It was a very daring act, but after Danny had played out the memories of collapsing last night, and then finding himself comfortably curled up on a couch with a blanket on, he had managed to come up with a small theory.

His theory was that Vlad wasn't going to do anything to him if he just remained _asleep._ To the ghost's boy's never ending astonishment, it worked!

Danny didn't think his theory would have actually worked _this_ well either. Oh no, Danny had thought that Vlad would step in, see him sleeping, and then knock him on the head to wake him up. Nevertheless, Danny could only presume that Vlad was harboring pity for him- which sounded really odd to Daniel at first, but rather than getting caught by Vlad with a cell phone, he decided to try out his assumption.

And it freakin' well worked!

Danny impatiently wondered if this was the feeling that an astronomer might have when discovering a new planet in the solar system. Whether it was or not, Danny felt like squirming triumphantly and laughing at Vlad for fooling him.

However, if he so much as breathed wrong he knew he was going to be in more trouble than he was already in store for.

So Danny waited and strained his ears to hear the slightest sounds of activity while keeping his breathing level to shallow gulps of air. He had been hopping that Vlad would have left the room and given Danny a chance to stop faking and then let his breathing catch up with his humming heart.

But Daniel didn't hear a pair of suave footsteps leave the room. He waited with growing anxiety as he stressed his ears to hear everything in the room. Five minutes of waiting soon told Danny that Vlad was still within the room, and from what Danny could guess from his breathing, he was relaxing in his arm chair.

Danny carefully eased one of his eyes open to peek over at the chair. The chair was turned away from him, facing the unlit fire place, but Danny could see one of the billionaire's arms resting easily on one of the arm rests. Danny watched as he noticed Vlad's fingers tapping on the scarlet fabric of the chair. It was as though he was counting the seconds that ticked by.

Vlad moved and Danny snapped his eye shut again and continued to fake his well deserved slumber. Danny didn't dare to open his eyes again, not for at least twenty minutes later…

In the time that he silently squirmed in his 'sleep' Danny began to notice an odd sensation. He doubted it had anything to do with his lamp, because it had nothing to do with his body… He didn't know why, but Danny was feeling audacious. Like he could stand up against Vlad and smugly point out his flaws- if he had any. Despite the fact that he felt that smidge of courage, Danny did not move still. He may have been feeling daring, but there was a fine line between stupid and daring.

Vlad still didn't move from his chair. By now, Danny was mentally ushering the fruitloop to get up and walk away. In all this prolonged silence, Danny's ears had grown so sensitive that he could actually listen to the pattern of Vlad's breathing. Casually in… and then heedlessly out. Danny even started to count the exhales before he began to notice that his breathing was slowing down.

Danny quietly peeled open one of his eyes to spot Vlad still sitting in the arm chair. He couldn't see the halfa's visage, so he could only tell that Vlad was there because his arm was still carelessly residing on the arm rest.

It had stopped tapping impatiently. Instead, his hand rested sluggishly at the end of the rest and an almost lifeless manner.

Vlad was asleep.

Danny opened both of his eyes warily as he shifted from under his blanket. His movement did not seem to disturb the billionaire. Danny watched for any signs of wakefulness as he dared to squirm slowly up into a sitting position.

Vlad didn't move. He continued to sleep soundly.

Danny cast his eyes away from Vlad briefly to look for his lamp. The opportunity to flee was nipping at his heels. Vlad was asleep- and now was his chance to find another way to run with his lamp… But where was his lamp!? It wasn't on the small table where he last saw Vlad placing it. It was no where in sight!

Except…

Danny silently got up onto his bare feet. He crouched down slightly and then crept wordlessly- noiselessly over to the arm chair where Vlad sat in. His ghost green eyes were focused on watching Vlad's unmoving form every second that he drew closer and rounded the chair to face the billionaire.

Vlad's head was resting on the thin knuckles of one of his hands. His elbow was precariously supporting the weight of his tilted head as he leaned a little to one side. His legs remained firmly crossed, but somewhat angled away from him to balance his weight. Danny couldn't help but watch Vlad with his head silently bowed down and a tangle of silver grey hair settling to the side of his shoulder carelessly.

Danny felt tempted to tug at the hair- he didn't know why… he just felt the impulsive need to do that. It was that same odd feeling he had detected during his silence of waiting… He also paused to wonder how Vlad's goatee would feel like and whether his skin felt as soft as it looked… but before Danny could even think of doing something so stupid, he spotted the green tint of a lava lamp, wedged against the side of the chair and Vlad's hip.

_Oh come on!_ Danny thought exasperatedly as his shoulders slumped. The genie bit down on his lip as he dug inside of his mind for a way to get out of this. He was hoping that he could find a way to move his lamp and try finding Sam and Tucker… but evidently, that was not going to happen.

_Maybe if I could just…_ Danny straightened up warily and leaned over Vlad's sleeping form- being very careful not to touch the man's crossed legs. To do this without getting in Vlad's way Danny had to poise nervously on the balls of his feet. Hesitantly, Danny reached out and took a hold of the top of the lamp that was presently the only thing he could grasp without touching the billionaire's sleeping form.

He tried pulling carefully, but the lamp didn't move. Danny looked at the tranquil features across Vlad's demeanor. It occurred to Danny that Vlad had never looked this peaceful in his wake. He actually looked like he wouldn't try to kill someone for looking at him the wrong way.

Danny soon found himself staring at Vlad more than he was trying to remove the lamp. Frowning, Danny shoved aside his thoughts about how welcoming Vlad appeared and attempted another tug. Nothing happened.

_Stupid Vlad…Stupid lamp… why does he have to look like that?_ Danny thought to himself bitterly. Each time he attempted to pick up the lamp, he would think about how _stupid_ things were. Specifically Vlad- but Danny knew that wasn't true… he was just finding himself growing more and more frustrated with looking at that sleeping figure while trying to get that lamp. _Stupid Norm… Stupid lamp!_ Danny scowled silently as he eyed the unmoving lamp… Maybe if he could use something to pick it up for him… _Why did he have to fall to sleep with my lamp right there!? Stupid Vla-_

Vlad shifted his head to one side, which evidently exposed his neck while his hand, which supported his head, flopped heedlessly back to the comforts of the arm rest. Danny sharply withdrew his hand from the lamp in time to avoid getting locked with Vlad's arm resting on his own.

Danny hitched his breath in his throat.

The older halfa exhaled calmly and carried on his uneventful sleep. The hairs on the back of Danny's neck were up on all ends as his round eyes watched Vlad passively move his lips for another second or so.

Danny's heart appeared to be thudding against his Adams apple right beneath his distilled breath. Vlad remained perfectly oblivious to the pair of eyes staring at him tensely. Eventually, Danny had let the air expel from his lungs as he heard Vlad's casual breathing resume.

_That. Was. Close…_ Danny thought as he continued to stare at Vlad like he was a ticking time-bomb, just waiting to be set off by the slightest move. Danny had his eyes focused intensely on Vlad's dipping visage turned away from him. His chin was just barely resting on his shoulder lazily and his neck was the first thing Danny found his eyes looking at. It moved gently as it swallowed, making the defined lump in the man's throat bob slowly. Tendrils of permanently grey hair flecked over Vlad's neck teasingly.

Danny stared hesitantly, looking at Vlad with a mixture of confusion and unexpecting urges. His lamp was already forgotten as Danny watched the shallow breaths pass the man's lips.

_He looks so submissive_ with his neck exposed like that. Danny could easily try strangling the billionaire right now, if he wanted to. However, something else calmly tugged at his thoughts, directing them to something less violent as he watched the man sleep. Danny curiously leaned forward boldly. He could smell Vlad's faint body wash as he drew closer. Vlad still did not move, and Danny was less than an inch away from the man's neck.

A nasty little thought crossed young Danny's mind- a thought that Danny normally wouldn't have ever thought of if it weren't for Vlad's suggestive actions prior to this moment. Feeling that intrepid sensation stir within him again, Danny let a placid smile spread across lips.

It was time for Vlad to be scared out of his wits. If not scared- then maybe confused. Danny leaned towards Vlad with the fullest intentions to get Vlad back for frustrating him.

_Pay back time._

----

Letting himself quietly ease off to sleep hadn't been his first intention while waiting in the scarlet arm chair, but he had lost count of the minutes that he had tallied with the light tapping of his fingers. It was like the equivalent of counting sheep, and it held the same effect. Gently and slowly, Vlad found himself dozing off to sleep in the middle of battling with his thoughts.

Now he was very much aware that he was awake… And someone has invaded his comfort zone. Not just that- as Vlad soon realized- but someone had invaded his personal space and was impolitely pressing a tongue against his neck.

One of Vlad's ice blue eyes cracked open. He heard a faint sultry purr close to his ears, which in response, sent an alarming tingle to rush down his body. Vlad abruptly sat up. In the process of doing this, Vlad had interrupted his intruder and caused him to pull back briefly.

Unfortunately, the intruder seemed to 'accidentally' lose his balance and fall safely into the billionaire's lap. With both of his eyes now wide opened, Vlad looked before himself at a ghost-turned genie who smiled back at him covertly.

_What the…?_ Daniel brought a hand up casually to Vlad's neatly dressed chest and playfully gripped at the fold of his garments. Vlad looked at Danny, his mouth having fallen open from the unanticipated move. Vlad attempted to recover from his pleasant, but surprising- wake up call and redeem his stature…

Danny quickly stopped that by forcing his lips up against Vlad's unprepared lips. A crafty tongue slipped into his mouth. Vlad was half tempted to biting it, and eventually, he did when he noticed Daniel's endeavor to force his tongue far into the back of his mouth. When Vlad had a hold of the boy's arms, he had pulled the boy's shoulders back.

"Boo…" a devious voice passed Danny's throat as he looked at Vlad mischievously, licking his lips in the process. Vlad glared at Daniel.

He was playing with him and Vlad wasn't sure if he liked it or not. Where did that child get the gull to try something as outrageous as that!? Vlad began to narrow his eyes as he watched Danny- who wasn't giving the impression that the firm hold on his shoulders was bothering him. He wasn't even fidgeting like he usually does under Vlad's ice cold glares.

"If it's so much to ask… What are you doing?" Vlad said coolly, trying to collect his thoughts after having them scattered across his mind when he felt Danny's lips up against his own. Not that he had too much of an objection about the action- it was just the fact that _Danny_ was doing the kissing. Better yet it was the fact that Danny was kissing him, and he hadn't even _wished_ for it.

Danny's smile quirked a bit, giving him the look of a cheshire cat as he absently pawed at Vlad's chest.

"Guess."

Vlad glowered at the child for not answering him.

"I hate guessing…"

"One of your guesses will eventually be right," Danny said as he shifted on Vlad's lap. Gladly, or maybe reluctantly, he had thought that the ghost boy was snapping back to reality and becoming more self-aware of his current position, but the next moment, he found that the shirtless boy had merely shifted so that both of his legs were lazily resting on either side of his hips.

At this, a shade of red- for once in a long time- managed its way onto Vlad's cheeks. Daniel looked like he had just won a game when he saw the blush across the billionaire's face. And to reap in his glory, he wriggled a little to let himself lean forwards into Vlad. The billionaire's hands had gone slack for a moment, nearly allowing Daniel to possessively take another kiss from him, but before the boy could reach his neck, Vlad's arms stiffened reluctantly.

"No, you are going to tell me right now… What do you think you are doing?" Vlad said dangerously. Danny's emerald eyes looked at him slyly while his lips formed a dog-like pout. Vlad found himself feeling pulled between whether he should be biting the boy or viciously kissing him right now.

"I'm _playing,_" The boy said while his mouth peeled back into a grin.

_Playing_? One of Vlad's brows rose suspiciously. The billionaire wasn't sure if he was dreaming right now any more. If he was, he was sure that he would have been much more compliant, and Daniel would have been submissive… not the other way around. The genie didn't appear to have the patience to let Vlad untangle his confusion and wrenched his arms from Vlad's grip quickly. The next moment, Vlad felt a hand in his hair, nimbly threading their digits teasingly into his pulled back hair. The other hand aggressively took a hold of the collar of Vlad's shirt and yanked him forwards.

Vlad felt the instinctive need to regain some form of control over the situation, but before he could so much as argue, Daniel had found his lips and was politely messaging them with his tongue. Vlad went to move his head, but stopped when he heard a small, but definite growl pass Daniel's mouth.

Daniel just growl at him? Vlad's eyes widened- if they weren't already.

Perhaps feeling insulted by the boy's mysterious growth of courage, Vlad went to rebut against Danny's _playing_ by taking a hold of his waist… But then he noticed Danny was gingerly loosening his small tie and pulling apart his suit.

Vlad's hands went into action, with the means to pull the ghost-boy away from him, despite his body's clear objection with his own mind. For a moment there, Vlad had lost the mental war between the sensation of Danny's lips pressing close against his before straying casually down his neck. His hands faltered the moment they were going to shove the child away when he felt the boys teeth graze over his neck ever-so lightly. Vlad craned his head back gently.

A devious hand wandered its way past the collar of Vlad shirts. He only noticed it when he felt the teen's nails bushing against his skin right over his beating heart. Vlad lips parted with a sigh, which in turn, earned him a small overconfident laugh from Daniel.

_That little brat…_ Vlad eyes must have eased shut during one moment or another, because now they had snapped open at the sound of Danny's light snicker. The billionaire sat himself up right, or at least tried to, but Daniel forced his weight on Vlad, forcing him to use a sneakier method of escape by phasing through the chair. Once for forced himself to become intangible, Vlad picked himself up after falling through the chair and got to his feet. He now stood behind the chair, looking greatly agitated.

Vlad glanced back to the chair to find Daniel peering over the top of it back at him, looking highly amused with himself. Danny raised one of his hands up and dangled Vlad's tie before him playfully as he smirked.

Whoever was slouched in that chair was certainly not the Daniel that Vlad has known to hate and like at the same time. Vlad leered back at the teen forebodingly and went to carefully fix his suit without the assistance of putting on his tie. Daniel watched smugly until Vlad was finally aware that Danny had managed to cause him to blush.

Vlad watched as Danny's smirk disappeared as he turned away and slipped down into the chair. Daniel did not attempt to get up to try _playing_ around, and Vlad was stiffly glad that he was now on his feet and thinking straight.

The billionaire turned on his heels and started his way out. As he did, he heard Danny confidently chuckle.

Danny had just beaten Vlad in his own game.

----

To be continued…

----

**There is a reason to this! By gwad, I am not butchering this character without legit reasons!**


	10. Chapter 10

Thank you all for your wonderful reviews! You guys are like the coffee in my cup! May it never empty!

Chapter ten, looking at things another way

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A series of vast ideas had slowly nestled within Danny's cranium as he sat, slouching poorly, in Vlad's arm chair. His hands idly tugged the string of Vlad's tie- which he had come to cherish like a small medal for his outrageous bout against Vlad. The ghost boy-turned genie grinned from ear to ear as he looked down at it. It was like his little prize… And Danny was going to keep it.

Danny played out his thoughts for more than half an hour as he lazily sat in Vlad's chair. He didn't even notice that he was no longer hungry or harboring an uneasy headache. They were long forgotten ever since Danny began to conduct his next plans to getting underneath Vlad's skin… or clothing. Whichever. Once satisfied with basking in his own thoughts, Danny seemed to notice an odd nagging voice in the back of his mind. It was trying to remind him about something important… Yet he couldn't tell.

Danny had already generated a good share of shameless methods that would probably make Vlad's will crumble under him the next time Vlad would try re-establishing his authority. Oh, the very ideas were making him shiver with anticipation. However, as he played out his plans through his mind, he still noticed the distant little voice tug at a few ignored strings of thought.

When Danny's enthusiasm slowly waned, the voice began to grow louder until he realized what it was saying.

_WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!?_ By this point, Danny's humor had faded, and he was now quietly fidgeting with his medal between his digits bashfully.

He began to replay the events that put him in this chair and Vlad in a particularly miffed mood. As he did, he had expected the same volatile sensation of supremacy and excitement to tingle down his spine just like it had the other times he relapsed in his victory, but this time he found a new geyser of dismal thoughts that gushed out dejectedly, making his shoulders raise defensively and his hands to clench.

What _was_ he doing? Danny scrunched his nose indignantly. Whatever it was that had encouraged him to attack Vlad like _that_ had left him, and now he felt as though all of the air had been sucked out from him. He was certainly glad that Vlad wasn't around right now to see his sunken expression.

Maybe he had been drunk off of magic…? Daniel hoped that was the case, but it still didn't explain why he simply could have just _stopped…_ Well, actually, it did, but Danny was feeling slightly worried now as he sat in his chair. Worried that he might try pulling something like that again- only going further…These, these _urges_ were dangerous. Albeit, they proved to be very fun-

_No. They. Are. Very. Wrong._

Okay, okay, so they aren't very ethical, but Danny didn't seem to have any objections to his own actions until now… Maybe it was just the feeling of being drained of excitement. The only way to redeem that is to merely have a little bit more excitement. No problem, Danny thought. Just find something to do that's exciting… Like… _teasing Vlad._

_No, idiot, wrong activity._ Danny frowned. He hasn't felt this quarrelsome with himself since he had been split up by the Fenton Catcher.

Danny chewed his lower lip nervously, finding that his comfort of his playing around had left him, and he itched to do something to fill in that insecurity… But there was no one around- and Danny was _not _anticipating the next time Vlad confronts him. He wasn't sure what he will do the next time.

To Danny's unspoken wishes, he didn't see any one for most of the day. Occasionally, he'd spot the human maid, Amell, zipping about wordlessly though the corridors. At one point, he had attempted to get her attention- he didn't know why- but the maid appeared to be deliberately ignoring him. Frowning, Danny simply found himself feeling insulted that no one was around for him to bother.

By the middle of the day, Danny had realized that he has not used any of his time to divulge in a plan for escape. Much rather than thinking about the more serious dilemma of getting free, Danny had been more engaged with testing his new powers. In place of his earlier plans for escape, Danny had fiddled away idly with making various objects appear and disappear which in turn lead to the discovery that he could make some inanimate objects that he created come to life in some small and weird way.

After making two small business appliances battle one another to submission- stapler verses hole puncher- he went to tamper with his ghostly appearance. After a number of tries, Danny found that he was incapable of changing his hair or eye color, but anything else was fine. A bird, a snake, a cat, and finally a dog and Danny was officially aware that no matter what form he took, he would resemble something with white fur, scales, or feathers and emerald green eyes.

It was all very interesting and new to Danny, but by the time it was late into the afternoon, Danny realized that he had spent the day doing nothing progressive- save for maybe getting tired again. When he grasped this unattractive little fact, Danny had paused to wonder whether it was all that important to escape any time soon…

It's only Christmas.

The guilt that Danny had expected to feel the moment he concluded his thoughts didn't come.

In fact, Danny paused to reflex that he _should_ be feeling guilty that he wasn't as worried as he would like to be. He didn't even grimace when he thought about his parents and how alarmed they would be for his absence.

Reluctantly, Danny decided that he was still far too shocked to comprehend certain feelings. Deep down, he knew that was a lie, but he wanted to accept it as the only plausible excuse for his lack of heart in the matter.

No sooner had he gotten over the concept, Danny was day dreaming once more and skimming through the third chapter of 'da guide to being a genie'. This chapter, Danny considered, was the most useful part of the book. That small little voice absently reminded Danny that the first time he head looked though this chapter, he had been slightly insulted by its material, but now he was actually finding it quiet… amusing.

However, Danny was interrupted by the presence of an irritated wealthy man that looked intent to exact his revenge on him. Unfortunately, Danny had been far to amused by the book after finding some of the examples in 'lawyers and loopholes' quite funny to register Vlad's contemptuous looks. Nevertheless, Vlad's presence quickly snatched up Daniel's attention like a dog looking to his master who was dangling a bone in front of him.

Vlad hesitated the moment he noticed the way Danny was looking at him. But the man wasn't intimated- or at least he forced himself not to feel bothered by the boy's look. Vlad was more engrossed with the actuality that Danny was finally sporting a white t-shirt with a small red tie that Vlad recognized instantly. Fortunately for Vlad, he had extras and had already replaced the tie that Danny had swiped away from him.

After hanging around the living room for most of the day, Danny had found himself feeling pleasantly at home laying on his back on the carpeted floor. No one was around to see him stare blankly up at the ceiling, but now that Vlad had stepped in, Danny scrambled to sit on his knees while the billionaire walked across the room. Danny quickly observed that Vlad was not displaying his usual evil smirk as he looked over at him. It was a strange way he looked at Danny, as if he was in a rut of unanswerable questions. Of course, Danny couldn't read very much across the billionaire's face except something that looked… remotely bored.

Danny didn't have to ask why Vlad had decided to grace him with his presence when Vlad moved over to the chair and picked up Danny's lamp. The genie felt the vague impression that someone had a hand around his shoulders and waist, but Danny was beginning to grow more accustomed to the feeling, and managed to hide the slight twinge down his spine.

Vlad didn't pause or wait for Danny to inquire anything about his current mood. Much rather than standing within the living room and discussing wishes, Vlad turned and started his way out, with the lamp in one hand. Danny didn't follow on purpose. He was actually feeling stubborn that Vlad hadn't at least said good evening, but then again, he never really expected Vlad to ever greet him nicely.

Danny didn't follow, but as soon as Vlad had gone outside of twenty feet or so from him, Danny felt an irregular twitch within his stomach before he felt like he was being shoved. To Danny's displeasure, Vlad had turned to watch as Danny fought against the pull from the lamp and flashed a familiar amused smirk at him.

At once, Danny went to dig his bare heels down onto the floor, but it only managed to hurt Danny while Vlad started his way upstairs. Frowning, Danny reluctantly picked up his pace so that he wouldn't feel as though there were invisible needles in the back of his stomach. Once he had given in to following, Danny raised a brow in curiosity.

"What are you doing?"

"Placing you somewhere where you won't bother any one." Danny froze instantly and felt the odd tug in his stomach proceed to goad him forwards before he picked up his pace again. Danny could only guess that Vlad was planning to put him in his secret lab, or even a solitary room… Danny oddly found this distressing, even though earlier he would have been really glad to be alone and out of harms way.

"I'm not bothering any one."

"You're bothering me."

Danny's expression lit up with a smile. Vlad was turned away and stepping fluidly down a corridor so he didn't catch Danny's bemused expression, but he older halfa was sure it was there.

"How exactly am I bothering you?"

"You're complexity and simplicity." He answered curtly.

"Ah- wha… How does that even work?"

At this, Vlad cast a short glare over his shoulder and sighed just enough for Danny to hear him. He came to stop at a double door- a bed room to which Danny recognized as one of the guest bedrooms that he or one of his family members had resided in years ago… rebuilt, of course.

"Because you are a loose cannon. Anyone today could have stumbled in and taken this," Vlad gestured with sliding his thumb along the side of the lamp, giving Danny the unnatural sensation of someone applying pressure to his chest. "And because I still haven't figured out what I'm going to do with you if you don't grant my wishes _my _way… I'm placing you here, out of sight."

At this, he opened the doors to the room and stepped in, Danny followed not long after to avoid the supernatural pull from the lamp.

"Which comes to the complexity…" Vlad turned to face Danny after he placed Danny's lamp on the bed stand. When Vlad looked back at Danny, he realized that the boy was looking at Vlad wolfishly from him, to the lamp, and a little bit nervously at the bed sitting idly next to him. Vlad glowered at Danny.

"You might want to focus on one thing at a time, Daniel."

Danny restrained his eyes on Vlad, looking slightly alarmed. Vlad would never be able to fathom a reason why he looked alarmed, but Danny was completely aware of that little voice in the back of his head saying _'Don't. You. Dare.'_

"I can multitask…" Danny said quickly, trying to recover from his short fit of dark thoughts. One of Vlad's pale eyebrows rose.

"I highly doubt that… But it doesn't matter… I have a wish to clear things up without having to ask you anything too challenging even for you."

Danny quickly masked the smile that could have appeared across his face that moment. After reading most of the third chapter, Danny had quiet a few ideas he was hopping to use against him. Whatever the wish was- Danny thought- he was going to be ready for it…

"Good luck." Danny said, raising a hand up to the collar of his own shirt to playfully twiddle with the small tie around his neck. He noticed one of Vlad's eyes twitch as he did this.

"I wish you to give me that book that I saw you looking at in the morning."

Danny was surprised by the wish- he thought that Vlad had forgotten about 'da guide to being a genie'- but Danny wasn't the least bit unprepared for the objective of the wish. He pulled his hands away and swung them towards each other.

Clap!

Nothing happened. Danny was smiling quiet smugly as he watched Vlad's expression dawn an agitated look.

"Well?" He hissed, placing his hands on his hips.

"You didn't specify _when_ I should give it to you…" Danny said, smirking.

Danny could have sworn he saw Vlad's eyes flash a dangerous red color as the older halfa clenched his jaws.

"… All right." He growled. "I wish for you to give me that book that I saw you looking at in the morning right _now._"

Clap! This time, the book materialized into the air in a puff of green smoke, then landed heavily in Danny's out stretched hands. Wincing from the sheer force of the book's weight landing in his arms, Danny carefully wandered over to Vlad and offered up the book to him. At this, a pleased smile slid across Vlad's face as he took the book from the docile ghost boy.

The next moment Vlad had the book in his grasp, Danny clapped his hands again and the book disappeared.

"Oh what now?" Vlad growled as he swished away the retreating puff of green smoke when the book vanished. Danny was smiling quiet contently.

"You didn't wish for how long you wanted it."

Danny thought he heard Vlad's teeth gritting together as the older halfa clenched his hands into fists angrily. Danny's confidence started to drain as he remembered the potential threat that Vlad was to his health…

Then again, Danny was positive that he was giving Vlad a tumor right at this very moment.

The ghost-genie-boy could tell that Vlad was trying not to strangle him at this very instant- which Danny was finding humorous and troublesome at the same time. Humorous due to the detail that Vlad hasn't tried to prod his lamp like he had done before, and troublesome because Danny really, really, wanted to have the excuse to _attack_ Vlad.

"Would you rather another method to granting this?" Vlad said, glaring hazardously at Danny.

_Yes-no-yes-no-yes-no-yes-no-_

"W-what kind of methods?" Danny asked, ignoring the battle between his opposing thoughts while his large eyes paid attention to Vlad proceeding a step towards him. Vlad still looked pissed as ever, but Danny couldn't deny the familiar look across the man's face that matched the one he had seen early in the morning.

"Oh…" Vlad's voice grew a bit smoother while his eyes narrowed and his lips moved into a malevolent smile. Danny could feel his heart lunge into his throat and block most of the air he was trying to inhale. Another step closer and Danny could see Vlad's ice blue eyes leer back at him keenly. "… The distracting kind."

Danny hesitated once he had heard Vlad answer. _Distracting kind?_ He thought blankly, _What distracting kind of method wo-_

The next moment, Danny felt Vlad slip one of his arms past Danny and press the palm of his hand against the small curvature of his spine. The other took Danny around by the side of his neck and jaw while the older halfa proceeded a step forwards, causing Danny to instinctively bend backwards to save what little space he had that was being invaded from Vlad.

Danny's eyes widened the instant he felt a pair of warm lips up against his neck- more specifically, the small lump that bobbed whenever he swallowed. He could feel the man's tongue stray forcefully down his neck and up before the lips drew away to bathe a trail of warm air against his skin. Danny mind banked from the sudden rush of conflicting emotions. All he knew now was that his heart was barely making one coherent beat.

Vlad's hand pressed Danny's waist forwards, which in contrast made Danny arch backwards while Vlad leaned over him. In some deranged reality, Vlad was dipping Danny but Danny was far too mystified to notice. The older halfa's lips robustly pushed against Danny's and bathed a warm tongue against Danny's teeth, forcing his jaw apart with the help of squeezing the side of Danny's neck till it could possibly leave a bruise. Danny yelped, which earned him a sharp bite on his lip from Vlad and a low growl. The ghost boy winced his eyes shut as he felt a tongue possessively push against his own, triggering a rush of anxiety to flood through his mind.

Vlad was kissing him. _Kissing me._ Danny hadn't even realized until now that his waist was nestled up against Vlad's and one of his legs were nudged in between the old halfa's legs accidentally due to the unpredicted dip. He could hear Vlad's growl waver a second time as Danny went to move his leg which incidentally applied more pressure against the male's groin. Vlad's grip only tightened and Danny could do nothing but squeak as he bit down on his lower lip again.

Before long, Danny's mind had lost most of its proper functioning skills- far too immersed with the slightest touch to notice that little voice telling him that '_this is SO wrong!'_

And just when Danny was beginning to _fight_ back, Vlad pulled away, but still held him. Dazed, Danny looked back up at a leering billionaire, who breathed out a wish.

"Now… I wish for that book _now._"

Danny didn't even notice when his hands clapped together. Vlad's dark cool eyes and slightly panting expression had him transfixed.

The book materialized behind both Vlad and Danny and slammed onto the ground gracelessly. Vlad turned to look at the book over his shoulder. The moment he saw it, he released Danny, who was entirely unprepared for losing his support, and collapsed to the floor. Thud.

Wincing slightly, Danny brought his hands up to cradle his head from the soar fall while he watched as Vlad vigilantly adjusted his sleeves and tie before stooping down and picking up the large book.

"That's much better…" He could hear Vlad's regal voice adjust and calm down.

Danny had barely scrambled up onto his knees before Vlad proceeded to head out of the room with the book tucked under his arm. For a fleeting second, Vlad cast a look back over his shoulder. Danny's eyes grew wide as he saw a satisfied smirk spread across his features. A sudden unnatural flare grew within Danny, ordering him to get up onto his feet and run after Vlad.

Unfortunately, Danny's mind was still not working, and as soon as he had gotten a foot away from the door, his body was halted by the irritating pull from the lamp, which in response, flung him backwards onto the ground.

Danny slowly pulled himself up onto his feet, grumbling under his breath as he did so. He could still hear Vlad's footsteps calmly recede into the corridor as he looked to the door venomously.

Danny wasn't sure or not at this point… but he had a feeling that Vlad had discovered an even more terrible form of punishment…

----

Vlad wasn't particularly proud of what he had done, but it was satisfying nonetheless to see Danny's piteous face look at him like a child being refused his candy.

It was also the same reason why he was becoming more concerned about this matter.

As much as he loved it- as much as he liked the idea of Danny submit in his grasp, or shudder under low growls- he knew that there was something not quiet right about it. It wasn't the fact that Danny was simply a teen, and he- a middle aged man, but because Danny would _never_ let anything like this happen to him. Vlad also knew there were other reasons that deterred him from going further than just kissing the boy. One of these reasons was Maddie, but it had never been a problem until now when Danny started to act… not like Danny.

Vlad knew Danny too well. He wouldn't let any one get to him like he had just done. Not only that, but Danny would never wake him up by giving him a distinguishable hickey on his neck, not unless he was impossibly inebriated.

It simply was not Danny… The Danny Vlad had come to know through the past two years of spying and quarreling with was far to shy to instigate moves like _that_ let alone know how to pull them off so well.

The moment he was out of sight from Daniel and marching down the halls, his smile vanished and was replaced with a grim line of thought.

Whatever the reason was, Vlad could only guess that it had something to do with the side effect of being a genie.

It never did occur to Vlad that Daniel might have hidden desires just as he; it was out of the question.

He had spent the entire day, fuming over the event that made him one tie short and put his dignity at risk. Something _was_ wrong, and Vlad had to find out, and he had a feeling that the book he now carried was going to help him find out what that exactly is.

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To be continued…

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**Reviews are loved, and reviewers are sensually raped. Beware ;)**


	11. Chapter 11

Zmog! Thank you all for the wonderful reviews! I'm also really sorry that this had taken so very, _very_ long to make this chapter. I don't know if this chapter will make up for how long I've made many of you wait, so I just submitted the first chapter of my second Danny Phantom fan fiction. For any of those that are interested and or okay with Danny/Vlad, then I gladly recommend this other fanfiction. However, if you are squeamish, and dislike dark fan fictions, then I would ask that you do not read it. Flames tend to hurt.

Chapter eleven, old acquaintances

Traveling from one point to another was never considered a problem for Danny. He could fly over a hundred miles an hour, phase through obstacles and turn invisible to avoid being spotted. Yes, travel was extraordinarily easy for a ghost. But for Sam and Tucker who are not dead or wispy, keeping up with their ghostly friend was a lot harder than how they made it look. Most of the time, they were always late for the action, or just barely there in time to lend a human hand to Danny's spectral brawls.

But this time they had the Specter Speeder, a vehicle that could mimic Danny's flight three times over and carry two completely normal teens within its casing. Because of Jack's most beneficial creation- aside from the Fenton Thermos- the Specter Speeder was capable of transporting Sam and Tucker to their needed destination in less than half the time it would normally take to get there. This is likely due to the fact that neither of the teens had to worry themselves with the rules of the roads- let alone follow the roads themselves.

What could have taken five days of travel in a car, took only seventeen hours.

Tucker had undoubtedly fallen to sleep in that process and Sam had taken short organized intervals of naps after she had set the Specter Speeder on auto pilot. It was during one of her short snoozes- accidentally using Tucker's slumbering form as a pillow- that Sam woke up from a small beeping noise that declared their arrival to Winnipeg.

Sam sat herself up, ignoring the creak in her neck as she looked out at the scene beyond the protecting glass of the Speeder.

"Uh… Tucker," Sam used one of her hands to gently shake her friend's shoulder. "I think you should see this…"

It took a few seconds for Tucker's log sawing to stop as he was shoved more bluntly in the chest by his persistent friend.

Tucker groggily pulled himself up from his slumber and yawned- which ultimately turned into a gasp as his eyes shot open. The specter speeder sped high in the air, below them was the highways leading too and from Winnipeg and cars upon cars were piled up in the lane leading away from the city.

The two teens could see people shouting while groups and families began to weave their way past cars and hollering drivers.

The city itself had a heavy grey cloud hanging over it- or maybe it was the rise of smoke nestling into the sky. Tucker nor Sam didn't know. What they did know was that they were in for some serious trouble.

Sam took a hold of the steering controls, and darted the vehicle forwards into the city. They went particularly unnoticed since most people were far too concerned with their own well being.

----

Panic.

Yeah, that's right, run you gluttonous fools! You should have been running for decades- but there was no one ever around to nip you in the heels! Run!

Norm would have been thinking just that as he swung his latest victim into a dumpster bin, laughing manically, but there was something wrong with him. Something that he had begun to notice more often… It was a new feeling- as though he was, for once, unsure of himself.

But he was free! Heck! He knew he was having the most fun in his eternal life since- well… ever! He had turned an entire building into toothpicks just to watch as people fall through floor after floor of small wooden picks. He had laughed triumphantly as he commanded a cast of Canadians to act out the Shakespearian play, _Macbeth. _It was spectacular, and not even finished! He still had two more acts to go.

Aside from that, his eerie blue creatures of flames were constantly running up and down the streets of Winnipeg, setting a flame to anything they touched. It was a masterpiece, and Norm knew he should be enjoying it… He should be enjoying it a lot! Any genie would!

Yet, however, when it came to the scene when Macbeth was to kill the unsuspecting king, Norm had absently snapped his hands to turn the sharp dagger that 'Macbeth' held into rubber. It was odd… he was being sympathetic- which was something to say for Norm, who wouldn't even bat an eye if he saw a baby stroller roll down a busy road.

What was more disturbing to this powerful genie was that some of his blue mysterious creatures of flame were disappearing. That was extraordinarily odd. Either they were chewing on a fire hydrant and were inevitably doused in gallons of water, or that Norm didn't have enough energy to sustain their presence.

Things started to go downhill after Norm realized he couldn't take the form of a dog to chase a particularly plump looking human that was fleeing with his belongings on his shoulders. He snapped his hands numerous times, trying to change his clothing- his form too.

He even tried to try the simplest method of moving one object to another place. Nothing. The feeling of being pleased with himself for his freedom had evaporated. Norm didn't smile or laugh as loudly as much any more while he desecrated what small military defense that tried to stop him.

By act three of the play, Norm was no longer wallowing in his freedom…

He was panicking.

Of course, he couldn't just stop the nearest fleeing civilian and ask what was going on. Besides having little patience with people running, Norm was attacking anything that moved- too panicked about his powers to think straight. And what could a Canadian possibly know about a genie?

"No, I don't suppose you know what's going on?!" He yelled as he tossed a mail box through the air, narrowly missing a running soldier in green camouflage- that didn't match the streets at all- after he had scrambled from his malfunctioning tank.

"You're all too dumb to know, isn't that right, hmm!?" He said, yanking a stop sign from the corner of the street and throwing it into the air.

A scream caught his attention from a little girl who had nearly been thwacked by the aimlessly thrown sign. Norm swiveled around to catch her terrified expression…

And then the girl did the only thing that she could do for self defense… wail.

Norm has heard a lot of screaming ever since he set foot in Winnipeg. Some louder than the crying wail coming from this girl- but his immediate mood was pushing him, so Norm, with a glower, yelled back.

"Could you be quiet?! I'm trying to think!"

The genie went to snatch up the girl, and probably shake her a little bit- only enough to make her bite her tongue. For some reason, Norm couldn't find his usual urge to seriously injure anyone. Even if they _were_ Canadians. But before he could come up to the little girl and pull her by her shirt, something large, unnatural, and green smashed into him.

Norm spiraled through the air, and landed heavily into an ATM machine. His form seemed to sizzle from the attack and Norm groaned angrily.

"Great! I could swallow exploding missiles one moment and now I'm actually _hurt_ by a sucker punch."

Norm's wispy form slumped up and shook his shoulders free of some Canadian coins, townies and rubble. As he looked up through his dark shades, he spotted his attacker- hovering within the air in a shuttle like ship with about five visible guns aimed at him.

Instantly, Norm knew that the small ship was not Canadian… If it was, it would have only carried one gun and it would be a very small one too. Norm glowered.

"Would you excuse me! I'm doing the world a favor!" He yelled.

The sound of electronics warming up for another attack alerted Norm to dodge- and he did just that in the nick of time to avoid a bright green blast that slammed into the poor- now smoldering- ATM machine that was behind him.

"Give it up, ghost!" Norm heard a female voice yell from what must have been speakers attached to the vehicle. "You're coming back with us and fixing whatever you've done!"

"Wait… ghost?" Norm began- though his words were drowned out as two of the smaller guns shot symmetrical red rays at him. Norm spun aside while snapping his fingers. A blue flamed creature, not far from Norm, snorted and raised its burning skull at Norm's command. It growled and launched itself at the genie's attacker.

To Norm's discomfort, the ship's large rounded guns that protruded from the belly of the structure quickly swiveled and zapped at the elemental beast. Naturally, this would have done nothing but annoy the creature, but as soon as volts of energy struck the creature, it burst into flying embers that scattered across the damaged street.

Norm stared.

"Oh come on! Those are hard to summon!" He said irritably and snapped his fingers again- this time, intending to create another one. Nothing happened.

"Not now…" He groaned.

Norm didn't have time to lament over yet another one of his power-zaps. Another blast of anti-ecto energy erupted from one of the Spector Speeder's guns. This time, Norm failed to avoid the attack since he was far more concerned with snapping his fingers and uttering angrily to himself: "Why won't this work!?"

The impact shoved the genie into the ground and created a small crater around the genie. Coughing, Norm winced sourly, unaware that the end of his goatee was scorched and sizzling.

Dazed by the attack, Norm's attackers took the opportunity to land. By the time he was pulling himself up and holding his head with his hands the ship's door snapped open and he could hear two voices hurriedly speak.

"Quick, while he's down!" said the female voice.

"What? Do I use the thermos or the vacuum?" A male- un-athletic- voice replied.

"Urg… what?... Vacuum?"

Norm shook his head out from his daze as he remembered the last time he had seen a vacuum- in the hands of a shrimpy little kid with an odd liking for pink hats. His speaking must have alerted his assaulter as he saw two youthful teens leap out from the Speeder, one holding a small cylindrical thermos and the other grasping the neck of a clunky old vacuum cleaner. Before Norm could register anything, the teen wearing a startling yellow shirt unscrewed the cap of the thermos he was holding and yelled.

"Eat thermos!"

Nothing happened. Norm started at the thermos blankly- forgetting his head ache and bodily sores for a moment while the teen held the thermos opening facing him.

"… You need help." Norm pointed out bluntly.

The boy retracted his so-called weapon and stared down at it furiously

"Why isn't it working?!" the teen growled and moved his hand to press a small button on the side of the thermos.

What Norm wasn't aware of was that Tucker had just attempted to check if the thermos was functioning properly by pressing the release button. Abruptly, a flash of green burst out from the small entrance of the thermos, catching Tucker off guard, who leapt backwards as a sickly green ghost clambered out from the thermos, cackling wickedly.

Of course Norm found this surprising, but he wasn't just gapping at the ghost like a dead fish just because he was surprised, but because he _recognized_ what had just clawed out from the thermos.

The ghost flung her feminine head back in a nonchalant manner to allow her raven hair to settle behind her slim shoulders.

It was Desiree.

----

To be continued…

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**Happy Valentines day! I send my bloodiest, wettest, and squishiest hearts to the many reviewers! **Special thanks to…_Ember07_(I was actually using the washroom when I thought about 'You wish!')_, Emmy S Protra, Hitokiri Youkai, Illustriously Unsound, Scathing Sarcasm_ (-Rapes sensually-)_, Ceystone Comet, WTFWonder_ (Oh I can't wait to read your fan fictions!), _Unclear Destiny_(You are awesome!!)_, Nonasuki-chan, Wisdom of Insanity _(Me too), _Yenattirb, The 13th Unlucky Jinx_ (Curses! Back to the drawing board… just you wait, my pretty- I'll get you soon! And your little doggie too!) _Pieling _(Thanks for the help! I fixed it, and I know I have a couple dozen to fix more.), _Sasia93 _(You are exempted, but you don't know what you are missing.)


	12. Chapter 12

I intend to get my next chapter up faster- because I know there are a handful of people out there that prolly want to slap me about (and I don't blame them!) especially since so many people would be wondering what's going on. Even I have to take a few hours to recap what I've written. I wouldn't blame any of you for forgetting some things that happen in the story because of my space between waiting for each chapter. Heck, I bet a few (keyword: Few) of you might be thinking up your own lil' 'net chapter' to this because of how long I'm taking.

Chapter twelve, Unsettling truths

Desiree floated whimsically in the air, fluttering her eyes indifferently as she took in the new scenery with bland interest. She much preferred the old Sahara than the concrete jungle that she was in. Although the destructive condition that it was now in proved to illuminate a smirk across her sickly hued visage.

But the dead can't chose much, so Desiree didn't care. What did concern her at this moment was that she was facing an old genie that was in the middle of a panic attack. The ghost-genie stared, letting her lips curl into a confident grin.

"I see you're alive and well." She said, showing no signs of actually _meaning_ what she said.

"Wha! Ha- How did you get here?" Norm spluttered over his words hastily as he retracted from Desiree like she was some kind of virus.

Sam and Tucker stood stunned, looking at Desiree. Although Norm was the one to ask the question, both Sam and Tucker were also wondering how Desiree had gotten inside that thermos.

"Hmph… I was going to ask you that, actually." She said while folding her ghostly green arms at her waist and teasingly cocked her hip to one side. Norm visibly flinched.

"Wh-what? Ask me?" Norm gapped at Desiree. "For all I know, you should be wasting your time in the afterlife, not popping out from soup cans!"

"Thermos, Fenton Thermos." Tucker corrected as he picked up the discarded thermos hastily.

"Whatever! You- miss-" He directed himself to Desiree "-are dead! D-E-A-D!"

"Shocking isn't it?" Desiree arched a brow casually.

Eventually, Tucker had retreated over to Sam- he wasn't feeling all too courageous after having technology back fire on him. Now they had two genies to take care of. Sam, on the other hand, wasn't feeling so much as afraid than she felt confused.

Danny had told her to specifically take that Thermos with her. She didn't just randomly snatch one of those containers from the Fenton lab, but from Danny's room as he had instructed.

"I think they've met before…" Tucker mumbled as he retreated partially behind Sam while at the same time, trying not to look too chickened out be to be hiding behind a girl. Even if it _was_ Sam.

"You think…?" Sam retaliated with sarcasm while trying to asses the current situation.

Desiree and Norm floated in the air, facing each other off with scornful glares. It didn't take a genius to tell that Desiree was winning. Desiree looked angry and Norm looked mortified.

"Just when I was trying to get some peace of quiet for the holidays, you get up the nerve to put me in a stupid thermos!" She said, raising her voice slightly.

Norm paused, registering a look of confusion.

"I didn-"

"I don't even want to know why you are here with two side-kick ghost hunters," The ghost hissed. Sam and Tucker exchanged looks- both of which appeared insulted for being referred to as 'side-kicks' even though it was kind of true.

"And to do what?" She waved one of her hands aimlessly to generate a better idea of how irritated she had become. "To just laugh at me or something?"

"Uh… Sam… Are you getting all of this?"

"Danny only told me everything I know… I have no clue what's going on now." she stared.

Norm seemed to be just as perplexed as the two teens. He wavered slightly as he was faced by a predominantly miffed ghost-genie. A moment of silence dragged along carefully and Norm still appeared confused. As a result, Desiree pursed her lips impatiently and placed her hands on her hips, casting a dark look towards Sam and Tucker.

"All right, who made the wish?" She demanded.

Tucker and Sam both looked at each other and then back up towards the ghost.

"Are you Crazy? Why would we wish something from you?!" Sam retorted as she clenched onto the neck of the vacuum cleaner. In truth, both Sam and Tucker had had their fill with Desiree and her dreadful wishes since the last time they encountered one another.

"Norm," Desiree's voice made Norm straightened up alertly. "Who wished me into that can?" she said, with a hint of venom in her voice.

"H-hold up! I didn't put you anywheres! I don't even know who those two are!" Norm injected in a frantic attempt to defend himself.

Desiree settled her cool eyes towards Norm. They narrowed callously.

"Oh, so I'm to guess that some other genie snapped their fingers and transported me into that soup can?" She said calmly- although any one who was listening could tell she was holding a dagger beneath her words. "And then in some merely coincidental situation, the first thing I see when I got out of it was you. Tell me if you haven't figured out that you're lie is improbable."

Norm stared, gapping at Desiree. "I didn't! You're the _last_ thing I want to see!" the genie proclaimed.

Sam and Tucker watched intently, almost like they were watching a one sided match of boxing. Norm was getting struck by each one of Desiree's punches, and Norm was missing his opponent by a yard.

"That's not what you said the _last_ time."

Wham, oh- right in the jewels. Tucker flinched, Sam attempted to hide a smirk, and Norm backed away after being mentally struck below the belt.

Perhaps it was embarrassment that had distilled Norm for a moment or so. It only took Desiree that much time to glance around Norm. Her expression softened to a brief look of puzzlement.

"If one of those two," the ghost-genie gestured with a jab of her thumb towards Sam and Tucker. "-aren't your master… then where's your master, Norm?"

The genie seemed to revive slightly at this, and straightened his back proudly while he looked at the ghostly apparition. He flashed a smug smile across his tanned features.

"Got rid of him," he stated with a smirk. Desiree's question had quickly reminded him that he was no longer a slave to humans, and that he could do anything he'd like- just like her. Although, as an even better perk, he wasn't dead either. Norm suddenly felt like he had bragging rights.

Desiree frowned. Norm mistook her expression for being something of envy or disappointment. In reality, Desiree was trying to figure out why Norm wasn't safely nestled within his lamp.

"Where's your lamp?"

"That old thing? It was getting tacky, so I left it lying around… Aren't you just teeming with jealously, huh?" He said with a grin, "Now I can go wherever I'd like."

Norm had expected Desiree to enviously snap at him for finding a way out of servitude without dieing. He anticipated hearing Desiree growl angrily and ask who he had suckered into his own lamp. Norm wanted to have the opportunity to tell another genie what it's like to be free and alive. All of these were nice ideas that played out in his head. It only took him a second after speaking to play out all possible scenarios except one…

"You IDIOT!" Norm didn't have time to break from his thoughts and duck a flying fist. Norm spiraled down into the ground, crunching his back against the same small crater that the Specter Speeder had previously made.

Desiree lunged after Norm before the genie had time to recover. Sam and Tucker watched, wide eyed and stunned.

"You stupid little-arrg! I can't believe I even- and with such an imbecile!" Desiree continued to shout furiously while Norm went to dart away from her. Soon the ghost genie started to toss small pieces of rubble at Norm with each one of her insults.

"Ignorant!"

"Selfish!"

"Boar!!" a chunk of road cracked over Norm's head. Thankfully, Norm was far too shocked by Desiree's reaction to register pain or dizziness while he went to hide behind a flipped over taxi.

All the while, Norm attempted to retaliate with something- anything! Although Desiree wasn't listening. Nor was Sam or Tucker. They were too busy finding themselves more and more confused.

"Um… Didn't Danny say we had to bring back Norm?" Tucker asked within the din of his thoughts.

"Yes." Sam answered, but she didn't take her eyes off of Desiree or Norm for a second.

"Did he say we should bring him back alive, or in the form of processed meat?"

Sam sighed regrettably. "Point taken… we can't bring him back dead- I guess…" it was a nice idea while it lasted. Sam had originally thought that this raven haired male equivalent of Desiree was a ghost. But Sam was getting a good picture that this genie was not dead.

Desiree's attacks lessoned after she had run out of English terms to curse at the bewildered genie- who was having possibly the worse day of his eternal life- and began to swear in another language at him.

"You've always wanted more-" Desiree said, her shoulders wilting as she threw yet another large rock which shattered through the window of the poor yellow vehicle.

"Hey! What's wrong with wanting to be free!?" Norm hollered back from behind the car.

"Everything, you dolt!"

"Don't get angry at me just because you died before becoming free!"

The genie crouched carefully the next moment, expecting another barrage of flying objects to come at him. But nothing happened.

Norm hesitated for a click then dared to raise his head to look over the tires of the taxi.

Desiree had solemnly settled down onto her wispy tail over the torn up street. For a second there, Norm had thought he struck a tender cord for the dead genie. But the next look that Desiree gave him destroyed that idea…

She raised her narrow complexion to catch Norm's gaze. It was riddled with concern. Not for herself- but for Norm.

"Whoa, hey- are you having one of those feminine moments or something?" Norm said, finding her expression strange and alien to him. He rose into the air cautiously.

"No, you idiot…" Desiree answered while raising a delicate hand to her forehead as if to nurse away a headache.

"Then what's with the sudden mood swing!?" Norm raised his voice- finding some of his nerves where being furiously pulled at. Women, they never made sense! "Weren't you ready to beat my brains out with a rock?"

"I was, and I still am," She growled and clenched her fists. Norm visibly withdrew again. "But you've basically screwed yourself over, so I don't need to do anything." At this Desiree dipped her head down, looking saddened.

Norm frowned, finding that he would much prefer to have Desiree trying to beat him senseless out of what he assumed was jealously- not somberly pity him like she was doing now.

"Screw myself over?" Norm said, amazed, then scoffed shortly after. "Look, Des…" The genie registered a reasoning tone in his voice. "I'm free! How could I have possibly screwed myself over?"

Desiree snapped her head up, her red eyes glowering furiously at Norm- who had gradually wormed his way past the taxi, but now retreated back to where he started again.

"Have you ever read my book!?"

At this, Norm looked back at her guiltily from one side of the upturned car.

"I-um… skimmed… a little. Here and there." He said, scratching the side of his chin and fiddling with his slightly curled goatee.

Desiree ignored him. "You know what the purpose of a genie is?"

"Uh… to annoy?"

"No, Norm. To _serve_." Desiree said, coincidentally growing annoyed.

"So? Who says I have to live to serve?" Norm retorted bitterly.

"Urg! You're missing the point, Norm! You are a _genie_!" Desiree rose into the air again, looking grave as she emphasized the word 'genie'. "Genies don't wander around, free as birds. Genies _grant **wishes**__"_

Norm arched a brow skeptically while he mimicked Desiree's placement by rising into the air. "Genies grant _wishes_ whether we want to or not!" He pointed his own thumb towards his chest. "Maybe you like to grant wishes, but I don't."

"The powers that _you_ have were given to you to grant each and everyone of your master's wishes!" Desiree was speaking through clenched teeth now, but Norm wasn't letting her have the satisfaction of intimidating him. After all- she was a dead genie. It only took five minutes for Norm to find out when he first ever met Desiree that a dead genies magic can always be canceled out by a living genies.

"You're point!?"

"Where do you think your source of powers come from?!"

"Oh-um… let's see…could that be… me?!" Norm snapped back.

"That is so like you- you pigheaded numskull!"

"What do you expect me to say? Oh- uh, it comes from the ground like daisies!" Norm fluttered his arms in the air and made a disgruntled snort- which probably wasn't doing much help for Norm defending him against her insults.

Abruptly, Desiree hands clamped onto Norm's shoulders, forcing the genie's taunting gestures to come to a grinding halt. Desiree fixed her deep red eyes with Norm's blue one.

"Your _lamp_! Norm! Your _life is your lamp!_"

"What are you talking about? I'm perfectly fine without that stupid old-"

Norm's voice trailed off softly as his jaw grew slack. He stared back into Desiree's anxious gaze and watched as they saddened while he began to connect the dots within his mind. Some of his powers weren't working. At first, it was just the simple things that didn't work- and Norm purely thought that it could have been some small travel illness that came along with the first few days of being free. But then he could no longer use his more tricky talents… Had Norm's tanned skin been able to pale, it would have turned as pale as a particular Goth's who was quietly approaching with a vacuum in one hand.

"Hwa- are you trying to tell me I'm going to lose all my powers?" Norm said, his eye grown wide. "That I-I'll become nothing but a-a human?" Norm gapped.

"_Worse_ than that."

"Oh what could possibly be any worse than a human!?" Norm pulled away from Desiree, looking revolted; his panic was now named and renewed.

Quickly, Norm looked around himself and snapped his fingers.

"Snake," He half mumbled. A large purple snake materialized in the air and hissed angrily at Norm- who in turn, snapped his fingers and the snake turned into a magenta walking stick. As it shifted forms, Norm mumbled "stick, to latter" before he snapped his fingers again and the staff shivered into a long thick line of rope with knots in it. "Latter to flowers-"

He snapped his fingers once more, but this time nothing happened. "Oh no no no no…Come on! Flowers!" he snapped his fingers repetitively. "I don't want to become a human!"

Desiree was looking at Norm like she might watch a child realizing that there was no such thing as Santa clause.

"You won't become a human…" Desiree pointed out quietly.

"What! What then?! What is happening to me?" Norm darted his frantic eyes toward Desiree, whom seemed unaffected- if not a little insulted from how badly Norm was reacting.

"You're dieing."

Norm's frantic gestures and constant attempts to snap his fingers stopped

He looked back at the green ghost, his jaw having gone slack as he watched her shake her head sadly.

Silence could have prevailed for hours starting from that moment- not if it wasn't so quickly shattered by the sound of a vacuum cleaner being switched on. Norm suddenly felt an unsettling pull on his wispy tail before he was hastily sucked into a vacuum cleaner that was held in the hands of a daring violet eyed teen. The moment Norm was inside the smoof-made item, Sam flicked off the switch and silence echoed for a little bit longer before a dejected voice grunted from within the vacuum cleaner.

"… Smoof…"

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_Chapter Four: Don't say anything unless you need to._

_This chapter happens to be hypocritical on my behalf, but for the sake of educating the narrow minded, it will be written._

_First of all, genies have been known to carry many nicknames, some of which are considered insults, or names to stereotype a said genie. Ifrit is used to describe a genie that is a human equivalent for a pyromaniac. Incubus and Succubus are possibly one of the most vulgar of terms- which describes a male or female genie with a desire for physical intimacy. Although, humans believe that they are separate from genies, they are actually one in the same. An Incubus or Succubus is often refereed amongst other genies as 'young genies'. The point in mentioning these nicknames is to provide the idea that some mentioned magic related creatures could be one in the same._

_This chapter is the necessary details of the limitations on wishes. To introduce this chapter, I will provide a number of examples of 'wish' related beings. Although a genie is considered the most powerful type of wish-granting entities to this age there are many other beings with similar attributes and disadvantages. Of course, there are other entities that grant wishes, fairies for example, but they have far more limitations than a genie, and talking fish; but the wisher tends to be unsatisfied with the wishes that they grant. And then there are non-animate objects such as monkey hands, that often take every wish in a literal and resourceful sense, then there are wish-muffins, a rare delicacy that tastes absolutely terrible but grants any wish to anyone who bites it, except for wishing that it tasted better._

_In other words, there are many different unknown things and beings that can grant wishes. With this in mind, some wishes may interfere with other wishes._

_For example, if a human made a wish from a genie to be the supreme ruler of the world for fifty years (insert various details that would be required to avoid loopholes and etc) but at the same time, if someone were to wish for the same thing, two things could happen. One, the wish would be cancelled out. The less common result is that the weaker of the two entities or objects that granted the wish will have their request cancelled._

_Keep in mind, that since the end of the Roman age, a particularly powerful Djinni (another nick name for a 'powerful genie') granted the wish that no other living being on (or off) the world will be able to wish ruling over it ever again. With that in mind, if your master wishes to rule the world, it isn't likely to happen unless the genie wishing it is stronger than the djinni- who is undoubtedly still alive and stronger._

_In the case that two wishes interfere with one another, usually the stronger of the two succeeds, but there are some cases where there are forms of discriminations that change the outcome of the cross fire. For example, a fairy, no matter how strong it is, can have its wish cancelled out by any genie- young, weak, or strong. A genie doesn't even have to be required to be granting a wish to easily counter a fairies magic. If a genie wanted too, they could use a bit of their magic to transport a lesser magic-related entity or object from one place to another. This includes ghosts- which are considered one of the weakest fabrications of supernatural creatures._

Vlad brows furrowed disdainfully, even though he agreed partially with the statement. But he was not 'weak' by any means.

_As stated before, genies have certain limitations, such as being unable to travel far from their lamp, or the inability to kill without request. These limitations are always the same for any other genie- but if in the case that a wish does not work, it would mean that someone else is currently or had already made a wish that had the same or similar intention. The most common of these in the past was having two masters wish for a human to fall madly in love with the said masters, though lately, masters have the habit of wishing at a more gluttonous continental level. Like wishing for another genie- which would never work because the lamp of a genie acts as a guard against certain wishes like that… _

Vlad sighed and slid away from the book and desk, leaning back against a chair while he raised his hands up to his temples and gently rubbed them. He was getting tired of looking through this book.

Don't get him wrong, Vlad saw that this book was far more helpful than he had expected, but still- even at the fourth chapter, Vlad hadn't found anything that could explain Danny's sudden courageous streak as a genie. Although the book did help explain a lot of things that Vlad had questioned- except maybe how Danny had originally gotten stuck within that lamp. It even explained where Danny had figured how to properly avoid granting the 'correct' wish.

Since he had read the third chapter, Vlad quietly kept in mind that he should be exceptionally careful what to wish for in the future.

It was nearly past ten and Vlad had spent all the time since he had wished for this book, reading it. It was strange how a ghost that he rarely thought of- Desiree- could have written something so helpful. Albeit, she didn't need to state a few sarcastic comments, but it made Vlad pause and wonder why exactly a _ghost_ had written this book.

That was just one of the smaller questions that had grown within his mind ever since he started reading this book. Of course, the concept of ghosts had logical explanations- but fairies? Wish-muffins? Preposterous! Yet there was a half-ghost-turned-genie lounging within one of his spare bedrooms…

Vlad muttered something incoherently while he got up to his feet and moved across his private chambers to what looked like a wall with a small bar counter sitting along the side. The billionaire nimbly reached over and pressed a button from under the small edge of the obsidian counter and a small clicking noise echoed calmly. From behind the counter, the blank wall moved in three pieces, turning itself around entirely to reveal a hidden bar littered with an elegant selection of drinks. Gin, vodka, red wine even some soft drinks. It wasn't a large stash, but it was enough to satisfy a billionaire with a head ache. In the foreground, there could be heard a soft sound of lounge music playing humbly.

Brushing the side of his temple, Vlad sighed and poured himself a miniscule glass of gin.

So many things didn't make sense… Of course, the book helped explain a number of his previous questions, yet he still had a few more to go- some of which were important. Perhaps he'll find his answers in the last chapter. Vlad quickly drank what little alcohol was in the glass in one shot and felt his eyes instinctively prickle as his throat felt a little bit warmer. The feeling was distracting, which was exactly what Vlad was intending, but for how long the feeling would last was never quiet enough.

Fortunately, in his moment of pause from reading, he was alerted by an old fashioned phone ringing off from its cradle at his work desk next to the large yellow paged guide to being a genie.

Odd. Vlad had numerous phone lines- and the one that this phone was connected too was his personal phone line. Who could be phoning this late at night…? Better yet, just exactly who would phone him- a man who rarely associates himself with anyone at a friendly level.

The phone rang again by the time he reached it and brought the receiver up to the side of his face.

"Vlad Masters speaking…" He said, holding a hint of boredom in his voice.

"Oh Vlad, thank goodness you're up…" Vlad paused. It was Maddie and she sounded worried.

Out of habit, Vlad changed the tone of his voice entirely from regal and disdainful to considerate and gushy.

"Ah Maddie, what reasons do you have for this call?" He said, his lips instinctively curling into a smile.

"Danny, my son."

Vlad hesitated and his smile vanished. Oh. He had almost forgotten about Amity Park and how it could be could be effected with Danny Fenton mysteriously disappearing when Jack had sent a gift to Wisconsin.

"…What seems to be the problem…?" He said, sounding as though he didn't know precisely what Maddie was going to say next.

"He's gone missing for three days now… I'm sorry, oh gosh- I don't know why I've phoned…" Maddie's voice drifted. Vlad could tell she was scared. The Maddie he knew always knew what to do, but this wavering voice was trying to do anything- no matter how small the chances are. Even phoning him.

"I know you would have told me if you had seen him… Even so, I'm just checking… have you?" Vlad felt as though that little bit of gin in his stomach at solidified and winced.

"Ur, no… I haven't seen your son. What's happened?"

"He's just gone missing… We- I don't know why he hasn't shown up…" Maddie sounded like she was ready to break. Who knows how Jack might be acting while Maddie sounded so worried. "…Jack and I found the Spector Speeder gone this morning, so we thought that maybe he had gone to meet you…"

Try getting air-mailed in a package with a Christmas basket…

"I'm afraid I haven't seen him, Maddie…" Vlad's voice trailed off distractedly.

There was a shuddering sigh from the other end of the line.

"If you see him…"

"I will contact you if I see so much as a hair of him," Vlad answered, feeling urged to comfort Maddie in some way or another… After saying that, though, Vlad started to bite down on his tongue.

"Thank you Vlad, you don't know how much that means to me to hear that…" She said, but Vlad could tell she had little hope to believing that Danny would somehow show up at his front door. No doubt the boy has shared his dislike for him with Maddie, Vlad thought venomously.

"I can have authorities looking out for him, Maddie." Vlad reassured in his sultry voice.

"Anything would be great…" She didn't sound assured. On the contrary, it was as if phoning him- Vlad Masters- was her last attempt to contacting people that might know of the child's whereabouts. With no one else to contact, Maddie was at an end of trails. "Please call me if you hear of him…"

That was the end of the discussion, Maddie was far to concerned for her own child's safety to say goodbye. Vlad would have taken this to heart had he not already felt guilty for lying about where Danny was, so as soon as he heard the click of the other end of the line die, Vlad sighed and slowly, reluctantly, placed the phone onto its cradle.

After gazing at the phone and the large tattered book to being a genie on his work desk for perhaps a minute or so, Vlad retreated to the mini bar and decided for another small shot to clear the new establishment of thoughts on his mind.

By the time he had convinced himself of a third glass, Vlad was idly flipping through the remaining pages of chapter four when he heard a subtle knock on the door.

Vlad glanced to the current time before he raised his voice to alert whomever it was to enter.

The door peeked open and Amell's nervous visage appeared from behind it.

"Sorry to trouble you…" she squeaked. Vlad merely watched her with a steady gaze. "I'm done for the week and did as you told…"

"Did you see to our guest?" Vlad inquired loosely, having recalled that he had sent Amell specifically to Daniel's room to provide anything he might require. Food, as an example… Vlad still wasn't sure whether or not Danny had a human diet. Even so, he had been very careful into asking that the maid were not to listen to Danny unless he was to answer her own questions.

From the looks of it, the maid didn't experience an awkward or frightening encounter with the genie-boy because she smiled the next moment.

"Yes. He didn't want anything to eat, sir. But I brought him something to eat as you said." She dipped her head down generously for a moment- like a good maid should do when reflecting respect.

Vlad didn't so much as look up from the guide book while he answered back.

"All right, you may leave for the holidays."

He was expecting Amell to turn and leave- the sound of a door closing would have been the sign that she had left. But no such thing happened. After a few seconds, Vlad looked up to see that the maid was still waiting at the door. Her smile was a little less happy, but more shy.

"Yes?" He asked the unasked reason for her prolonged wait.

"Your guest wanted to return something that you had misplaced."

Vlad lifted his head and raised a brow curiously for a moment, then it occurred to him that Amell must have been talking about the tie that Danny had stolen from him this morning.

"Just leave it at the desk" He indicated with a sway of his hand to the bar countertop that was partially covered with a few new books that were placed there due to a wish. Without bothering to watch, Vlad gritted his teeth while he looked down at the guide to being a genie. Daniel was certainly being rather cheeky; hadn't he learned that trying to play an adult game was only going to make him embarrassed or harassed…

Amell slipped into the room and deposited the item she had, and left shortly after wishing Vlad a good holiday. Vlad ignored it as he was more concerned with his thoughts leading to Maddie and Danny to even consider thinking about that cheery holiday called Christmas.

The moment the maid had disappeared, closing the door behind her, Vlad noticed in the corner of his eye that Amell hadn't left his tie on the counter. In fact, it wasn't a tie at all. It was a domed dinner plate.

Vlad arched a brow slowly as he looked at it. Surely his tie would be in it… but why would she leave a dinner platter here? To find out the answer himself, Vlad got up to his feet and strode over to the bar counter to take a peek under the cover of the plate.

As soon as he lifted the cover to make so much as a crack of and opening, Vlad spotted an odd green glow.

Realization dawned across Vlad's face before he even finished removing the top of the dinner plate.

" Oh, Fish paste…" Following his dessert-related curse, Vlad could hear someone chuckle.

----

To be continued…

**Happy spring break! Special thanks to…**_ Sasia93_(Yes. Shakespear. I've grown tired of it so. It seemed only fitting to mention it in that chapter since I was no longer going to be studying it) _The 13th Unlucky Jinx _(-waves a white flag- Well, at least I can strip you mentally instead :B) _Pieling_ (You're pickiness make me a better writer! And yes, of course there will be slashy goodness… I'm just trying to be more plausible.)_ Fanfictionfan123_ (So sorry to burst your bubble! But Norm does seem to be the flirtatious type. And Desiree is just the perfect bitter gal that Norm had disappeared on. But it gets better…) _LuvrOfAnime_ (OMG, you are already writing a fanfiction that is _this_ good. No doubt that if you make a Vm/Df it'll be ten times better than this! I have my hopes up for you!) _Illustiously Unsound_ (There's a story to it, Norm can't simply just destroy Canada. That would be _bad._) _Xelena _(Oh yes I did, and I hope you liked reading this!) _Nonasuki-Chan_ (No, I can understand why seeing Desiree pop up as unexpecting. I hadn't very easily described why in that chapter.)_ Vinillii_ (I already thank WTFwonder for being alive- her Fanfics are to die for! Now I thank you for reviewing! Thank you so much, and I hope you continue reading!)

**Next chapter will be up in two days, promise!**


	13. Chapter 13

I lied! I took two days and fifteen minutes! D: … hehe.

Chapter thirteen, Incubus

----

Sam nimbly tucked the neck of the vacuum cleaner under her arm as she balanced herself over a set of torn up asphalt. Tucker soon joined her side with the Fenton Thermos as soon as he noticed the vacuum cleaner started to thrash and rock.

"Let me out! I can't stay in here! I HATE smoof! You can't do this to-"

Sam kicked the side of the old vacuum cleaner while Tucker went to pick it up by the handle to keep it from rumbling violently.

Desiree hung in the air, giving the two ghost-side kicks a grim contemplative frown.

"Des! Des! Could you let me out? For old times sake?"

Desiree bit her lip and sneered.

"You're staying in there until you cool off."

"_What!?_ I'm dieing! If I cool off any more I'll be pushing up daises!"

"It'll take a lot more than some smoof vacuum to kill _you_ Norm, It'd take-"

"Could someone please explain to us what this guy-" Tucker gestured with raising the shuddering body of the vacuum cleaner, indicating Norm. "- has anything to do with our pal, Danny?"

Sam continued with a nod while Desiree slowly lowered herself down, giving both Tucker and Sam suspicious looks. Sam appeared equally uneasy with reasoning with Desiree. Quiet frankly, Sam was far to reminded of Paulina when she looked at Desiree. "You must know what's going on between Danny and Norm."

"What makes you think that?" Desiree asked dryly.

"Well first of all, Danny told me to take the thermos that you were in without me knowing… And now you are stating that Norm is dieing somehow…I have no clue what this has to do with Danny, but I think you know."

Desiree glared- but not specifically at Sam or Tucker- she looked frustrated at the very idea of having to deal with Norm and his mess ups. Sam was right, though. It was written across Desiree's face. However, Desiree knew it was going to be hard to figure this all out, and then fix it.

"Norm, was Danny your master?"

"Danny? Danny who? I don't know any one called Danny! The master I had was this scrawny short ghost kid! Why are you asking me!? I never ask their names, it's just a waste of memory! Now just get me out!"

"_That's Danny"_ All three- Sam, Tucker and Desiree said in unison. The three looked at one another and exchanged brief glares before Norm's distressed pleas distracted them.

"Look, would you shut up, Norm!" Desiree spat while she brought on of her hands up to her forehead and rubbed it gingerly.

"Why should I?! I'm going to die! I might as well scream for the remainder of my life! Better yet, I could yell out all the secrets about you for everyone to hear _if you don't get me out of here!_"

"_NORM! You won't die if we just fix this!" _This silenced the genie immediately. It also earned Desiree two looks of shock as Sam and Tucker watched the ghost hiss at Norm.

"…This still doesn't explain why any of this has to do with Danny," Sam pointed out after letting the silence draw out a little bit longer. Desiree's brows knitted together as she blew out a sigh.

"Norm- the dumbest genie in existence- put the ghost boy into his own lamp."

"Wait- wait wait… Are we talking about that lava lamp that Danny bought at that second hand store?" Sam exclaimed as realization struck. Desiree had only to shrug, as she didn't know whereas Tucker glanced away and scratched the side of his neck absently. Sam turned to face her friend and scowled.

"I told you those places sell crap."

"So what's happened to Danny if he is stuck in Norm's lamp?" Tucker went on to say, adverting from an earlier argument. Desiree snorted darkly.

"Take a wild guess."

"… uh, he's stuck?" Tucker went to say.

"No," Desiree groaned quietly. "Our ghost hero is an incubus-"

"A what?!" Sam suddenly exclaimed as she stared up at Desiree. Sam looked as though she had just been slapped by a wet towel. Tucker on the other hand, wasn't so much as effected- in fact, he went to pause curiously and ask… "What's an Incubus?"

"Kind of a young genie..." Desiree said, her voice drifting away a little.

"That's not what I've heard an Incubus was, far from it!"

"Hey, who's the undead genie that wrote the guide book? _Me_. If you want to get your friend back we're going to have to act fast before ghost-boy becomes a genie for good."

"Um... guys, is Norm alive in there?" Tucker interjected between the two girls, cutting off their bitter glowers for a moment while Tucker raised the vacuum cleaner and carefully shook it. "He hasn't said anything for a while…"

"I'm alive… still." Norm's voice echoed out from the mouth of the vacuum mournfully.

"Good, we need to find Danny's lamp before it's too late." Desiree said simply while she swooped down and to the Fenton Specter Speeder. Sam and Tucker turned and quickly managed their way across the damaged street, following after. While they did, Sam piped up anxiously.

"Before _what _is too late?"

"Before ghost-boy goes through his first phases as an Incub-" Desiree stopped when she caught Sam's glare, "-Genie, and forgets that he was ever a human-ghost… freak."

While Desiree spoke, Tucker clambered inside of the Specter speeder, soon followed by Sam as she lugged the smoof made vacuum in carelessly. Norm remained depressingly silent even while the vacuum was rattled and bumped into the ghost fighting vehicle. Sam had to stop for a second to look back at Desiree in shock.

"Danny will forget his memories!?"

"Along with his initial concerns that mortals usually have, yes. They get replaced eventually." Desiree said indifferently, "It's all in the last chapter of my book."

"And what is _your book_?" Sam countered as she took offence to how lightly Desiree was describing what _could_ happen if they didn't help Danny out of his problem.

"A guide book that all genies have…" Desiree paused as she floated idly into the specter speeder. The corners of her lips turned up into a devious smile. "Do you want it?"

"Well it wouldn't hurt to know what's happening to Danny." Sam answered doubtfully as she caught the look on Desiree's face. Tucker retreated to the driver's seat of the speeder and began to turn on the ignition. A lively purr erupted from the vehicle while the doors quietly closed and the ship began to rise.

"Wish for the book."

Sam shook her head and gave Desiree a skeptical glare. Who did that ghost think she was? Sam knew better than to try wishing for anything from her. "Why can't you just magically poof it here without having us make a wish?"

"Don't be so difficult," Desiree hissed. "I'm dead, and my magic only works when someone wishes for something. Only living genie's can use their magic for their own needs… And unless sick-and-dieing other there-" Desiree made a flick of her ghostly tail towards the silent vacuum cleaner. "-has the ability to 'poof' it here- which I doubt- then you are stuck with a ghostly deranged wish from me."

"How do I know you aren't going to-"

"Oh for heavens sake! You! Boy with the red hat, wish for 'da guide to being a genie!'" Desiree cut Sam off, and turned her undivided attention to Tucker, who looked like a deer that was caught in the head lights of a buss. Tucker had swiveled around to look at Desiree from the drivers seat.

"I uh, wish for 'da guide book to being a genie…?"

Desiree released a satisfied, but frustrated sigh while she spoke. "_Your wish is my desire._" And with those words, a green spew of smoke and haze coiled into existence over Tucker's lap. The teen was tempted to leap backwards, although he was sitting, so he couldn't do anything aside from squirm before a large book materialized amidst the small plume of smoke and landed on his lap.

"Oof!"

The book was particularly heavy, and it was also squirming on its own accord. Tucker hadn't noticed it move at first, but when he looked down at the book after the smoke had clear, the book stared back up at him, literally.

Then it blinked and purred. One large glassy eye obscured the front page and gazed up at Tucker blankly.

"Why doesn't any one listen to me? Shopping in second hand stores is _bad._ Making wishes from dead genies is also _bad._" Sam said in one of her bothered voices while Tucker made an attempt to throw the book off from his lap and yell in a most feminine manner. The book slammed onto the ground and made a disgruntled whine.

Abruptly, dozens of little stubs poked out from the backside of the book like feet of a centipede, and picked itself up. The book growled and started to scuttle towards Tucker.

The teen quickly pulled his feet up onto the seat of the chair before the ghost-book could try snapping its pages at his heels.

As much as Desiree wanted to watch as her masterful ghost imbued book scamper up the legs of the chair and take a bite at the teen, she was more compelled to educate the two humans- even though she knew they wouldn't understand possibly half of what is written. It wasn't just for the ghost-boy's friends, but for Norm, who was still crumpled within the smoof made vacuum cleaner.

He needed to be reminded what happens when a genie dies and is replaced…

Desiree gingerly picked up the book while it feebly tried to jump and nip at Tucker. The book purred contently in the ghost's hands and quieted down while she opened the book and flipped through the pages.

"Chapter five, Suck it up, and get over it…"

"What kind of title is that?" The goth quickly interrupted. Desiree paused to give Sam a precarious glance while her finger ran along the lines. She continued to read…

_Chapter Five: Suck it up and get over it._

_This chapter is one of the least read sections of the book- no doubt because by the time this information is necessary, it becomes too late to care or concern for what has occurred. This chapter will explore the theories of our existence how we are born, recycled and so forth. It is particularly hard to gather information about this because- in most cases- the genie forgets their first days, months, or even years of their childhood._

_There are some exceptions were segments of memories linger, but in most cases they are just fleeting memories that could be presumed as dreams. Nevertheless, these old memories shouldn't come to any concern to a new or old genie, as they are only recollections of their mortal lives._

_In case you should find yourself concerned for your own loss of memory, ignore it. You will eventually forget to care about your memories before they even start to dissolve. The first layer of mortality that sheds from a genie is their inhibitions._

"That's terrible!"

"Shh, don't interrupt. You, goth… Let Norm out. I want him to hear this."

_As a result, a young genie has been known for being instinctive and primarily relying on their physical indications and primary instincts. But for a genie, our main instinct is to grant wishes, and to do so, we need to gain energy. In earlier chapters, you have learned that genies recuperate in their lamps and gain more energy by performing typical human needs. Eating, sleeping, socializing, and so forth. Although I haven't mentioned the most productive way to gain energy, because it is often found as the most demeaning. It is also the reason why young genies are referred to as 'incubus' or 'succubus'._

Sam paled- if it was possible for her to do so. "Oh… no…"

"Haha…" Norm jeered pathetically as he sat slouched in one of the passenger seats of the Specter Speeder.

_This phase tends to last until the genie is capable of performing some of the hardest of incantations, such as manipulating personal thought, changing segments of time, or even changing conditions on a planet on a world wide scale. Their first phase can usually last for more than a week to a month of a genie's first master time being summoned from their lamp. During that, the said genie is likely to adopt a personality most suited to their current environment. In most cases, the genie will mirror the personality of their master, or fit a companionable persona for their master. But until that phase is over, they remain set on obtaining energy through some undesirable ways and granting the wishes of their masters._

"Looks like you haven't gotten out of that phase, huh Des?" Norm interrupted with a sing-song grin across his tanned complexion. Judging from his grin, Sam had a good feeling that Norm was becoming a bit unstable after his shell shock discovery.

"Shut-up Norm!" Desiree shushed. Norm quickly stopped chuckling airily.

_Until these phases are done and gone with, the young genie is still a mortal, and can be killed if fatally harmed. This also means that before immortality sets in, the effects of being a genie can be reversed. To do so is simply perform the same thing that had ultimately placed the mortal in the care of the enchanted lamp or…_

"So… we get Danny out of the lamp, and Norm goes back in?" Tucker asked.

"It's not as easy as it sounds." Norm pointed out grimly as he shifted his human formed legs under him.

"Danny's master has to make his or her last wish while Norm is closest to the lamp…" Desiree answered.

"That doesn't sound hard…" Tucker pointed out bluntly.

"I said it sounds easier!" Norm glared at the boy.

"Do we know where Danny is?" Desiree snapped the book shut, it growled timidly as she did. Desiree hadn't been watching where Tucker and Sam were directing the vehicle, but now that she looked she could see that the ship was silently sailing through the sky over the heads of multiple confused Canadians.

"…Wisconsin" Sam had fallen sickly quiet ever since she had concluded the reasons for Desiree calling her friend an 'incubus'. Desiree's eyes lit up as her ghost colored lips pulled back into a smirk. She looked at the mortified goth.

"So our ghost boy has a billionaire for a master? Well this should be interesting…"

Sam cast Desiree a dark look while Tucker set the coordinates to Wisconsin.

"Can't you just wish all of us there? Danny is _serving_ Vlad, I don't even want to know what could be happening now…" All she could think was that Danny was in some serious kind of trouble. She didn't _dare_ think any more than that about the topic.

"Wish I could- really," Desiree said, enjoying her pun while Sam and Norm rolled their eyes. "But Norm's still a living genie, my powers are cancelled out if I try to use them on him."

"Well, then we better get to Wisconsin then…"

----

Daniel's lamp sat on its side on the silver platter.

Vlad turned swiftly at the sound of a sly little laugh. He knew who was there- but he had expected to turn around and see nothing. Ghosts usually tend to do that- make a noise, and seem like they aren't there… Even Vlad did that now and then. More than once, the billionaire wondered what it was that made ghosts do that…Perhaps a natural instinct. Nevertheless, when Vlad turned, he had expected to see-or not see- Danny hiding out of sight.

Oh, but Vlad had forgotten, Danny wasn't a ghost anymore, and he wasn't as predictable as he once presumed.

The moment he spun around, Daniel was before him, less than a foot away, smirking quite proudly for getting his way into Vlad's private study.

He wasn't sure any more if his mouth had fallen open due to the short shock of Danny's presence or if he had stepped backwards and bumped his back against the small bar counter- what he was sure about was Daniel's irritating persistence to play a grown-ups game.

The genie closed the space between himself and the billionaire and cleverly took the opportunity to press his lips up against Vlad's while he was unprepared.

Vlad was also suddenly very sure that Danny had somehow learned to kiss a lot better than any normal teen should…

Was the alcohol getting to him or was Daniel a few inches taller?

A kiss was enough to halt all thoughts, and Vlad turned his head and quickly brought his hands up to roughly shove away Danny. Vlad was getting agitated already by Danny's licentious behavior, but before he could so much as take a hold of Danny's shoulders he felt a pair of hands take a hold of his wrists and forcefully pull them back, pinning them against the edge of the bar counter.

"Daniel!" Vlad hissed sharply as he just realized Daniel was treading on dangerous grounds. Or maybe it was the vise versa.

The genie's eyes brightened as a smile played across his face.

"What?" He asked, as if there was nothing wrong. Vlad felt his cheeks redden and Daniel seemed to smile a little bit more as he watched the billionaire. The genie pressed his hips up against Vlad's, causing the older halfa to twitch involuntarily.

"I'm…" Daniel drew his head close, and in response, Vlad went to strain his head away. "Doing…" Vlad felt Daniel's breath close against his neck. "Nothing…" Vlad went to twist violently and push the ex-ghost boy aside as he felt a tongue briefly flick out and press against his ear lobe. "Wrong."

To hell he was. Ironically, he was hitting the perfect place to earn a strained grunt from the billionaire.

"See?-"

Vlad didn't wait to hear Daniel viciously mock him and strained to push Danny away.

"Geh- Yes _you are doing something very wrong!_" Vlad hastily growled as he forced his arms against Danny's hold while the boy tried to pin them. For a second there, Vlad had almost succeeded in pushing the genie away.

The boy even backed up for a moment as if something had knocked him in the back of his head. His expression- for a split second- dawned a surprised look before it quickly resumed a boyish grin.

"You prefer something else?"

Daniel's grip had lightened previously, but resumed a firm grip and went to push Vlad back again. But the billionaire was not going to have any more of this and went to phase through Daniel's hold. However, as soon as he tried to, he felt an odd numbing sensation over his wrists where Daniel's hands gripped him at.

"Can't use the same trick twice." Vlad heard Daniel's voice pout in his ears.

Stunned, Vlad looked at Daniel, registering a short look of fear across his face as Danny grinned. Did he just cancel out his attempt to phase?

The words from the book bubbled in the back of his mind. He wasn't quiet sure what they were, but gradually his memory kicked in… _Ghosts_ _are considered one of the weakest fabrications of supernatural creatures._

_Oh cheese logs!_

Daniel released his hold on Vlad's wrists and in an almost innocent fashion he wrapped his arms around Vlad's waist. Vlad took this as a surprise of course- it felt tremendously odd to have someone possessively hold him around the waist. He decided he would much preferred Danny's hands on his wrists than where they were now.

"Stop it Daniel." Vlad sank his hands down on Daniel's arms and went to detach himself from the genie. Danny didn't budge. Since when did this boy ever get so damn strong? Vlad growled.

"Stop what?"

Daniel drew his head up and planted a curious kiss on the side of his neck close to his ear. Vlad shuddered.

"Stop This!"

"You did it. I don't see why I should be the one to stop." He defended in less than a whisper precariously close to his ear.

"Sto-" Vlad's voice faltered as he felt Daniel gently press his lips against his earlobe and gingerly bite down on it. For a moment there, the billionaire felt as though he would have given up- given in no matter how strange this was. He even relaxed and noticed how comforting it was to have arms around his waist.

Vlad's eyes closed slowly as he found himself suppressing a moan. A small little voice nagged at him in the back of his mind. At first, he ignored it and craned his head back whimsically to let the teen explore down his neck, but then it became more obvious as Danny kissed his collar.

Maddie.

Who?

You know… the woman of your dreams that you have been trying to have desperately as your own for nearly twenty years… Ghost hunter extraordinaire… Collage crush… mother of Daniel. Vlad went ridged again. That little voice in the back of his head was sourly right!

Vlad's eyes snapped open.

"Daniel I wish you would stop it right _now!_"

Daniel looked surprised, and as expected, the genie drew away, arms and all, and clapped his hands.

"One wish to go." Daniel said, looking at Vlad with wide daring eyes. Judging from the fact that Daniel did not resume trying to paw at him meant that the boy hadn't 'misinterpreted' his wish in time. Vlad released some air of relief. However, while he did, Danny was still grinning mischievously.

As much as Vlad once enjoyed briefly _teasing_ Daniel, Vlad knew better than to continue. A night full of reading a guide book to being a genie and a few glasses of gin was enough to remind him that Danny simply couldn't have feelings for him. It was just not done. The boy had an obvious crush with his high school friend Sam. Whatever it was that compelled Danny to act so-so confident with Vlad surely was not of the boys own will. Besides that, Vlad couldn't just throw aside his thoughts of Maddie for this…_infatuation._ Twenty years perhaps has been too long…

Daniel made a stubborn sound and folded himself neatly into a sitting position on the floor before Vlad who was far to caught up in his thoughts to notice what he was doing. The billionaire turned away, using the counter to lean against neatly while he looked to his wrists as he was reminded of that odd numbing sensation when Danny took a hold of them.

Vlad cast a wary look over at Daniel, who started to resemble a fox wordlessly planning out his next attempt to misinterpret Vlad's wishes.

"Well now that I'm here, anything you want to wish for?" Said Danny. Vlad narrowed his eyes indignantly before he realized that Daniel did actually look older than he had last remembered. He arched a brow.

"Stand up."

"Is that a wish?"

Vlad growled a pastry related curse under his breath while he cast the white haired boy a dark look.

"I wish for _ten_ more wishes."

Clap. Ten more wishes. Vlad straightened up and looked at Daniel. "Did you get taller?"

"Nn-yes-_crap_."

The boy had forgotten he couldn't lie again. This brought a significant but short smirk across Vlad's face. However, Vlad's question didn't justify what he could see. Danny didn't just look taller... His shoulders were more defined. He was still terribly lanky, but his joints appeared more defined, most likely due to the signs of muscle on his limbs.

If it were not for Daniels youthful clothing, Vlad would have thought he was facing an… adult. Vlad frowned. Danny was wearing Vlad's tie over his white t-shirt, similar to those rowdy pop stars that he has seen on television.

"You changed your age?"

Daniel didn't answer- which inevitably meant yes and that Daniel didn't want to admit that he did. Vlad scowled. No wonder it had been harder to merely push him away. Vlad sighed.

"I wish you to resume your real age, Daniel."

Again, Danny dawned a shocked look. "What? Why??" Too late, the boy's hands rose and clapped together while he spoke.

Danny's height shrank, and his defined look vanished. Vlad had trouble holding back his grin as he watched Daniel fluster irritably. The genie even got up to his feet, looking like someone had stripped him of whatever glory he had.

"I liked that form!"

"Well I didn't…" Vlad said as he subconsciously brought one hand to nurse at one of his wrists gently. Daniel noticed this and quieted down quickly.

"You prefer someone younger?" Danny said, suddenly his lips peeling back into a snide smile.

If Vlad was not aware that Danny was capable of canceling out his ghost powers now that he is a genie, he would have been smacking the boy upside the head with an ecto blast that very second. Instead, Vlad gritted his teeth and cast Daniel a murderous look.

"No…" Danny could tell Vlad was trying to hold back from attacking him that moment.

"Then why?"

Vlad moved across the room wordlessly to his work desk and gently closed the large book that Danny instantly recognized.

"I got a phone call from Maddie- oh _don't you roll your eyes at me_." Vlad snapped irritably as he watched the genie skeptically glance away from him. A moment later, Vlad continued, but watched Daniel as if daring him to try saying anything cheeky.

"What does that have to do with my age?"

"I'm delivering you home, and-"

"What! Why would you do that?" Daniel exclaimed abruptly. Vlad paused to look at Daniel. Not scowl, but just to observe him. Danny didn't seem too pleased with the idea of returning home- however, the boy also looked undecided about whether he should be glad or not. Vlad didn't answer Daniel's question, as it was something he presumed was obvious… At least it should be.

"As I was saying… Maddie wouldn't be too pleased to see her son aged six years older."

"Eight." Daniel corrected dryly.

Vlad gave Daniel a short glare. Daniel averted his gaze elsewhere before something clicked behind the boy's eyes.

"So, you're letting me free?" Vlad wasn't sure if Danny sounded disappointed or happy. Vlad took it as being happy and glared at Daniel for even thinking of such a dumb idea.

"Of course not. I'm coming along…"

"You're mailing yourself too?"

"Wha- No! I'm taking you home in the morning, with that lamp." He gestured towards the lamp sitting on the silver platter on the counter.

"…Why?"

Vlad felt like he was talking to a brick wall. He took a moment to gently rub the side of his temples with his hands before he answered Daniel with a sigh. "Because you've gone missing for three days, and Maddie- your family, is panicking."

Daniel stopped and looked up at Vlad. That was odd… Vlad didn't see guilt or consideration riddled across the teen's face. In fact, it looked resentful, as if to ask 'what's the problem with that?' Vlad frowned grimly. This certainly wasn't like Daniel.

"Oh." Daniel said, failing to sound like he cared.

Vlad watched Daniel, feeling all the more confused as the boy returned the stare with a wolfish grin. Vlad hesitated and glanced away.

"We'll need to make a few wishes to make sure your friends' and family don't find out what you've become…" Daniel stopped smiling and looked suddenly bashful.

"Speaking of which.." Vlad carried on as he moved over to the small miniature bar. All the while, Daniel put fixed his eyes on anything but Vlad while the billionaire spoke.

"It seems your friends have gone off on a rescue mission… Did you know that?"

Daniel didn't answer. Again, Vlad interpreted this as a 'yes' otherwise Daniel would have been able to answer with a 'no'. Instead of answering, Daniel gave Vlad a short nasty little look. That was more like Daniel. Vlad smirked blandly.

"… It would be terrible if they were to miss their holiday away from their family wouldn't it?"

----

To be continued…

**Reading everyone's reviews had me writing this fanfiction late into the night the very next day! I hope to hear more from all of you! Special thanks to…**_Nonasuki-Chan _(I'm glad I was a part of making your day great!! I hope you liked this one!) _Pieling_(Don't we all? Sorry for the wait, inspiration had nearly died a while back.) **A BIG thank you to **_Nakokun _**for translating this very Fanfiction to another language** (I love writing, if only it didn't take so long sometimes!) _FantomoDrako_ (Isn't it:D I love messing with FoP/DP crossover! I'm surprised not a lot of people tried it out before.) _Kirril_ (Wow, you don't know how good that makes me feel! I looked up your profile because of your review, and WOW, I like your complaint about OC characters! I downright agree with yeah!) _Sasia93_ (I've never been gone, though I guess it does look like I've been away for some time, haha!) _Piloneo _(Close, but it's the equivalent to an ecto blast ;D) _The 13th Unlucky Jinx_ (Aw –tears- I guess I'll settle for staring at a picture of Vlad. :/ hmph. I hope you liked this chapter!) _Blue Phantom_ (That's more priceless than MASTERCARD. Haha! Thanks for the review)

**I would really love to hear what you guys like about this story, it encourages me to write more. It also helps to clue me in incase I get wrapped up too much in this story. Tell me what was your most favorite chapter, and your least, and why. It'd be great to hear from all of you!**


	14. Chapter 14

**_OMG_, **I just saw one of the newest Danny Phantom episodes, _Torrent of Terror, _tell me it isn't so… Vlad got himself a **_cat_. **Now as you all know, I live in Atlantic Canada, so some shows, movies, and etc, take longer to reach our television channels. In which case, many of you may already know about this… but _this is news to me_. HAH! Now if only they aired the episodes in order, I would probably understand how Vlad got a white fluffy cat for a pet…::Still freaking out about it.::

Chapter fourteen, Dull and Shallow

----

'_You are doing something very wrong!'_

Danny stopped at those words. It wasn't because they were said in a hasty and lethal manner, or because it was Vlad saying them, but because he had remembered how many times he found himself telling him those _exact_ words.

He _was_ doing something wrong.

But a few seconds later, Danny would hesitate to wonder what _was_ exactly wrong here? Better yet, why wasn't it something positively _right_? That seemed like a good idea. Maybe it was- his body seemed to agree with his actions although there was always that little tiny voice that objected to everything he thought of.

Thankfully, it was smaller than it had been some time ago and Danny was capable of ignoring it while he resumed exploring his advantages as a genie. Misinterpret wishes, trick his way into Vlad's study, and most of all play with a particular halfa.

Vlad was so _fun_ to toy with. Danny wasn't sure if he was doing this any more just to get back at the billionaire, or if it was because he 'liked' toying with him. It was obvious that the older man had mixed feelings about the circumstance- Heck, Danny knew why. There was something obviously _wrong_ about this, yet Danny has turned a blind eye to the mere thought.

What concerned Danny now was a way to have this billionaire for himself.

Which is why as soon as he heard of Vlad's decision to alert his parents of his whereabouts that Danny had suddenly become very sour.

He didn't know when it had happened, but at some point after a distracting kiss and lying around in the spare bedroom, Danny had forgotten about the very idea of trying to escape. _Why should he?_ Danny hardly realized that his disappearance had caused a ripple effect in Amity Park. It was only when Vlad reminded him that his family was worried about him that the genie had noticed his lack of sympathy for them.

It was a strange feeling to have; knowing that you should feel one emotion, but not feeling anything at all- as if he could no longer fathom the very reason why he should feel sympathy. Like staring at life through a long tube. The only thing that made him smirk now was his plans in store for Vlad.

He let Vlad believe that he had control over the situation. Danny had reluctantly stopped his assault, just to give Vlad the idea that he remained forever leashed to him by a lamp…

As expected, once Vlad took a hold of the figurative reins of the situation Danny was once again, an eager- _too_ eager- servant that did all the dirty work.

Several wishes and a number of wishes for more wishes later, Vlad had finally accomplished to limit Danny from performing various acts that could endanger his reputation before his family. Namely Maddie. There was also an issue of Daniel's appearance that was cured through wishes- aside from having his age being reversed to his typical sixteen year old self.

After just one wish, Danny was glad to find that he was capable of changing his hair and eye color when his master wished it. Danny Phantom no longer looked like a ghost, but a youthful raven haired teen with bright blue eyes known as Danny Fenton.

However, much to Vlad's irritation, it took several wishes each to set a series of rules down for Daniel.

He wasn't allowed to change his form in public or before any human beings. Wordlessly, Danny thought the wish was rather useless since he never would… But knowing Vlad, the man was taking all precautions to keep an eye on him.

He was forbidden to tell anyone the truth upon how he ended up in Wisconsin, or about his present state as a genie. This included anything that was associated with the lamp.

Daniel wasn't allowed to provide hints to his family or friends about him being a genie in any way or form.

He was to act accordingly before his family and act 'pleased' to have Vlad Masters visiting his family. Danny found a loop hole in this, but didn't care to point it out.

Finally, and lamentably, Danny was wished not to attempt any _moves_ while in the presence of his family and friends. By _moves, _Vlad specifically and moodily explained the list of things Danny shouldn't attempt when he asked. _Even_ though this put a dent in Danny's vindictive thoughts, he had found a loop hole in that wish as well… But like a smart little genie, Danny didn't say a word.

Then there was the concern relating to two friends out trying to save him…

Although ever since he had made that phone call, Danny hardly thought about what he had gotten his friends into. He was far too distracted by the very idea of Vlad. There was a lot to think about in that stubborn master of his. Sam and Tucker were just vague recollections of his anxiety when he first started to panic as a genie.

Surely his decision to notify them had only been a cause for irrational alarm. At least, that's what Danny presumed was his reason for acting… He had a feeling that he was wrong, though. Nevertheless, Vlad carried on with his wishes, and Daniel listened to them- this time he did so without as much attempt to find any loop holes.

"…As for your friends, I wish that they have no memory of anything to do with you and this lamp…"

----

Sam and Tucker sat lazily in the comforts of their seats as the specter speeder silently darted through the air towards Wisconsin; more specifically, to Vlad Master's mansion. Tucker had managed to relax after the new revelation of distress, but Sam was as rigid as a board.

More than once on their journey, Sam had bitterly lashed out at Desiree while she forced herself to read through a temperamental ghost book. Each new thing Sam gathered from those ghoulish pages was another five more minutes of shrilled inquiry about Danny's physical and mental health.

At one point, Desiree had nearly lost all of her self restraint and resorted to enough threats that compelled Tucker to take a hold of the Fenton Thermos and hold it ready, aimed at Desiree. These were short intervals of stress- other times, the four would become languishingly silent- almost reflecting Norm's current mood throughout the trip.

He hardly said anything, he just looked here and there, as if afraid that death was had a physical manifestation and it was out to catch him if he so much as closed one eye. Sam and Tucker took to ignoring Norm for fear that he might snap and do something drastic. Only once did Norm venomously speak up while Desiree and Sam were arguing.

It was somewhat pathetic, but it accomplished to lull the ghost and goth to separate their concerns from one another.

Although Tucker had resorted to ignoring Norm, he had eventually taken notice of Desiree's watchful eyes on the wilted genie. Now, Tucker wasn't dense to romance- not like Sam or Danny, he could tell there was something about Desiree occasional attempts to quietly speak to Norm that told Tucker that she was _trying_ hard to help. Even when other times Norm took Desiree's comments the wrong way. The genie was simply just in shock and Desiree took the bitter replies in silence.

It was approximately midnight when suddenly both Sam and Tucker forgot why they were in the specter speeder with a ghost and a genie, heading to Wisconsin. It didn't happen gradually, it was just a second later just after Sam had given up trying to pry open the stubborn ghost-book once more.

Her head snapped up and looked at the book in disgust and horror.

"What's going on!?"

At the same time, Tucker was jumping out from his seat, looking mortified. Unlike Sam, Tucker's voice seemed to fail him in his state of confusion.

Desiree looked at the two teens incredulously while the corners of her mouth turned down. Norm paused for once- and willed his attention towards Sam and Tucker in a bored lifeless manner.

"The book hates you, no doubt because you scare it." Desiree answered, thinking that Sam had grown frustrated with opening the ghost guide book to being a genie.

Sam quickly snapped her gaze up to Desiree and her mouth fell open in mortification.

"What are _you_ doing here!?" Sam quickly started to look around herself frantically for a Fenton Thermos. Tucker was holding it, and he was just barely gapping out his words as he held up the thermos to his chest.

"What are _we_ doing here!?"

"Excuse me? Did you and your friend just catch some kind of disease?" Desiree narrowed her eyes in disbelief. Sam appeared to be more taken aback by the sudden appearance of Desiree, the wish granting ghost, and some other tanned depressed looking guy. Heck, she was even surprised to see Tucker here, but upon the sight of the thermos in Tucker's hands, Sam's instinctive drive as a ghost-side kick booted up and she quickly took the thermos from Tucker without another word. She unscrewed the thermos with a quick twist and pointed the opening towards Desiree.

"I don't know what you are doing out of the ghost zone but it's time for you to go-"

----

"Oh right, I also wish that your friends' family don't remember them missing and that they are safe at home in their beds." Vlad added in a dry voice.

The genie rolled his eyes and clapped his hands.

Danny's shoulders sagged down wearily.

----

Poof!

Sam found herself sitting up in bed, late in the night, grasping a cylindrical thermos in her hands. Wide eyed and transfixed, Sam stared out at the opposing side of her bedroom. She could hardly make out some of the things in the gloom, but she noticed the familiar grim darkness around her that she always felt in her room. She wasn't in the specter speeder… there was no ghosts or strange ghoulish book.

It was a… dream?

Sam looked around herself, feeling her heart beat hum energetically in her chest.

"What a drea-…" She slowly stopped and looked at the Fenton thermos still clasped in her tight grip.

Her eyes grew wide.

Tucker didn't have too much of a problem as Sam did when he suddenly found himself in his room. Actually- Tucker had some how managed to faint in the process of being transported into the comforts of the bed. Whether he was aware of the fact that he was still wearing his shoes and morning clothing, or that his temple was beaded with sweat, the geek-like teen merely smiled into the recognizable console of his pillow and thought that he had a short, confusing, nightmare.

----

"… Uh… I know I should be spacing out right now- which is why I shouldn't ask… But… What just happened here?"

Surprisingly, Norm was the first to speak. It must have been the sudden spark of confusion that dulled Norm's morbid thoughts because now he merely looked out at the drivers' seat and slowly pulled himself out of his own seat to investigate.

Desiree floated warily over to the seat where their darker skinned teen had once retired in and gazed over the shoulder of the chair. The coordinates to Wisconsin and Vlad Master's mansion was still blinking calmly on a screen, while a bright neon light indicated a map and a red marker as them slowly heading to their destination in a straight blue line.

"I think our ghost boy is adapting quickly…" Desiree said in the process of placing one of her pale knuckles to her lip and bite at it apprehensively. This wasn't good.

At this, Norm snorted as he slouched over the seat that once carried Sam in it.

"Figures," he sighed miserably. Desiree cast him an impatient but troubled glance while her brows knitted together.

"We'll just have to do this on our own… They would have gotten in our way anyways…" Desiree assured lightly. Norm took this as a weak attempt to cheer him up and cast a hopeless look over to Desiree.

"Let's face it, I'm dead."

Desiree's expression darkened at Norm's thoughtless words. After all, she was dead, but she never complained about it. However, there was some concern in her look even as she grew angry. She was a ghost. There was always the possibility that Norm might not become a ghost if all else fails…

"Hey, you know- As nice as it is to see your ego deflated, you'd better stop mopping the floor with your tears or you are going back into the vacuum."

Norm arched a brow challengingly.

"What does it matter? I'm going to die-"

"Well if you _do _die, do you think you'd appreciate spending the last days of it inside of a vacuum?" Desiree sharply interrupted.

Norm opened his mouth to counter but before he could, realization slapped him in the face like a sharp slap of a wet towel. He _could_ die… Des was bitterly right- Norm didn't want to spend the remainder of his life in a clunky cleaning utensil. He had never thought of a list of 'things to do before dieing' because death was just a fairy tale to him. But now…

The genie stiffened his back and stood up straight, sending the ghost a gloomy frown. If he _was_ going to die, he might as well think of the things he'd like to do before dieing _while_ trying to save himself.

"… I'd like to try saving my life before I die." Norm said stubbornly.

At those words a smile split across Desiree's green complexion.

----

It occurred to Daniel that after granting those last two wishes, he felt compelled to take a long well deserved nap. Not just that, but he also felt like he had finished battling an army of ghosts and had barely finished winning with the use of his ghostly wail. Frowning, Daniel feigned his discomfort as irritation on behalf of all the wishes Vlad had made at this point.

Danny hoped Vlad hadn't caught the slightly weary sigh pass his lips, or his pathetic attempt to hide a yawn, but as soon as Daniel registered Vlad's regal stare he saw one of his brows were arched down curiously.

"I'll wish for five more wishes." Vlad said, briefly dismissing Danny's health. The boy didn't even bother to move- his hands rose on their own accord as usual and clapped together. Granting wishes for more wishes didn't seem like much, but after the fourth time that Vlad wished for more wishes, Danny found that those wishes were more tiresome and harder grant with the more wishes he asks for.

Five wishes more in the waiting and Danny felt a head ache blossoming slowly, and in his irritation, the genie spoke up.

"Why don't you just make it easier for everyone if you _wished_ for my Mom to fall in love with you," Danny's words faded as he became aware of what he was suggesting. Quickly, the ghost boy brought his hands up to his mouth and clamped them over his lips furiously.

The billionaire eventually turned, having taken a habit to pacing back and forth in the room while Daniel sat on the floor cross legged. Vlad appeared to take Danny's words with equal surprise

"Hm…" A knowing smile- devious in Vlad's own particular way- formed across the billionaire's features while either of his hands routinely clasped one another behind his back. "… I've already thought of that… and it's so _nice_ of you to suggest it," Danny watched as Vlad's smile split into a smirk. At this moment, Danny was aware that he was feeling rather dumb and pretty worthless. The genie cast his gaze down to his own feet.

"However," Danny looked up abruptly, finding that those words tickled his interest. Vlad was watching him, and the once ghost-boy could tell that he was gauging his reactions. "... Wishing for Maddie's love would be something like cheating… And it wouldn't be real either."

Danny paused and raised a brow. He hadn't thought Vlad would have considered something like _that_ cheating; especially when he earned most of his income by over shadowing rich corporation owners with the use of his spectral powers.

"And yet you think trying to kill my dad is not cheating…" Danny rolled his eyes skeptically.

"Oh that's not cheating. Killing your father wouldn't affect Maddie's love for me; it would only make it _easier_."

"Oh,"

Danny turned his head and squinted into the nearest corner of the room. He really couldn't care less about his master's affections for Maddie- _I mean my mom..._ She'd never fall in love with Vlad even if he was the last human or ghost on the earth. Such a cliché phrase would have been the only way to describe how impossible the romance was between the two. All Vlad was doing now was wasting time; approximately twenty years worth to be exact. What made it all the more annoying to Danny was that Vlad seemed positively content with wasting his time over his mom. Maybe even happy.

_Why can't he pine for someone else?_ Danny felt a sense of hopelessness pinch at his chest and there must have been evidence of it because as soon as Danny looked back at Vlad he caught a curious expression that Danny couldn't quite understand. It wasn't something that Danny had witnessed on Vlad frequently, and the genie was having trouble trying to decode it… but it kind of looked like…

_Sympathy?_

"You should go to bed." Vlad spoke quickly as he turned away to pace over to his work desk.

_Probably not_, Danny thought bleakly.

"I will phone your parents in the morning. Until then, I wish you and your lamp were back in the spare bedroom."

Danny was having too much of a head ache to manipulate the wish to his devious advantage. He could have 'misunderstood' the wish into thinking that Vlad wished him to go to _Vlad's_ room instead of his own. He could have done that… Surprise Vlad right out of his wits too… But oddly enough, Danny simply felt a little bit glum at the idea of bothering Vlad right now… More likely, his master would ruin all the trouble of misdirecting that wish by merely wishing him to another room before he could try anything. And even if he could manage something, he felt too tired to bother.

Moments later, he and his green lava lamp materialized in a haze of green smoke over a four poster bed to a familiar room. Daniel flopped onto the bed and blew out a sigh. His lamp landed safely in the comforts of the bed.

Complications. Danny was aware of all the little things that should be irking him yet only a few of them were apparent. His mother's reaction when she realizes he had been here all along didn't trouble him even though he was aware that he could be grounded for the rest of his teenage life. He knew he should be apprehensive about his current state; a genie under his arch enemy's servitude, however he simply felt too lazy to feel these emotions.

Dull… That's the right way to put it. Danny felt dull. Not dumb, or emotionless. Just dull… As if aware of his surroundings but cushioned by a security blanket. Maybe a bit of rest will clear his thoughts and pull away that stuffy blanket. After all, he had all of tomorrow to haunt and tease Vlad with his every wish.

A sly smile subconsciously wormed its way over Daniel's face as he dozed off in his scheming thoughts.

----

Morning called, and Danny woke up by a rude shake of his elbow. Cold light filtered out into the spare bedroom and curiously pressed against the genie's eyelids as he rolled over unto his side.

Another quick shove to his elbow encouraged Danny to grumble and pull his arm away to protectively hug it close to his chest. He wasn't ready to wake up and let his dreams fade. He was having such nice dreams- even though he wasn't sure what they were about any more. Simply put, being awake meant he couldn't dream any longer, so Danny wanted to go back to sleep…

That is, until he was aware that Vlad was the one waking him up.

"Get up Daniel," Danny's ears prickled at the sound of Vlad's usually peeved voice. Danny grinned and remained unmoving to get a reaction out of the billionaire. He could hear the halfa growl passively.

"Stop wasting time Daniel."

_Who's wasting time? I'm stalling._

"I've already phoned your family, and they are expecting us in Amity Park by this evening."

This got Danny's attention and his eyes snapped open while he sat himself up. Vlad was standing at the side of the bed, looking dressed and clean as always.

"You've already phoned?" he asked while in the process of rubbing his eyes and shifting his legs over the side of the bed.

"Yes… and Maddie wanted me to tell you that you are grounded for six weeks for not telling her where you went."

The genie could tell that Vlad took humor in hearing that Danny was punished. He managed to respond with a half smirk as he noticed how much he didn't really worry about being grounded. A week ago, Danny would have thought it was the end of the world if he had heard those words; and Danny knew that even now. Yet it didn't seem as much of a problem as he anticipated it to be.

"I expected more." Danny managed to say after a yawn. He caught a short sneer from the billionaire as he pulled himself up onto his feet slowly. Danny was purposely taking his time getting up and sluggishly waking up. Mainly because it was annoying Vlad.

"I convinced her to shorten it from a year." Again, Danny didn't care, and presumed that Vlad wanted to be thanked for the assistance. The genie grinned.

"How did the chat go, anyways?"

At this Vlad glanced away distractingly and went to move across the room to the doors to the spare room. Danny could see some luggage had been packed neatly and was waiting at the door.

"Eccentric." Vlad answered tediously.

----

Earlier that day…

After dialing the last number to Fenton's phone line, Vlad raised the receiver up to his ear and mouth patiently to tell Maddie the news. Not even one ring later, Maddie answered the phone, mostly likely expecting someone had news about her lost child. Luckily it was, so it didn't take him long to explain that Danny had shown up as his door early that morning.

The halfa was quickly forced to wrench the phone away from his ear for fear that his ear drum would burst from how loud Maddie Fenton yelled.

She wasn't angry by any means- she was overjoyed and furious at the same time; A complex combination of female emotions that Vlad decided he would never like to witness in Maddie again. First there were splutters of joy and relief, and thanks. But before Vlad could try and bask in the generous compliments for finding Danny, Maddie quickly carried on with how much trouble that teen was going to be in as soon as he got home.

Which finally came to a point were Vlad could explain Danny's reasons for coming here…

"…He said he wanted to wish me happy holidays in person," Vlad went on, lying like only a master could. "He simply appeared to be so determined to make sure I wouldn't spend the holidays alone…"

This was obviously not true.

Danny hadn't come here to wish him a good holiday or make sure he wasn't sullenly spending a joyous time of year alone. He was forced here through a package by air mail. While Vlad spoke, he laughed faintly as he became acutely aware that he hasn't had a social Christmas in years. He didn't even bother to join the ghosts in the ghost zone for their yearly truce; it would be ridiculous to do so anyways. He was revered in the ghost zone; he couldn't tarnish that by socializing with petty commoners and ghosts.

By the time he had settled the vibrant flames of Maddie's protective mothering skills for Daniel, he had assured her that Danny was asleep and well and that he would return her child safe at home in only a few hours.

And then it only seemed mandatory for Maddie to offer Vlad the opportunity to stay and enjoy a Fenton Christmas at their home; just as he predicted. Although, after he let Maddie go to spread the news that Danny was found and okay, Vlad silently stood by the stilled phone line and angrily bit at the inside of his cheeks.

It felt bitter knowing that the only way he could manage to experience a normal family holiday was to lie about finding a teenager at his door, looking to spread holiday cheer. For a brief stall in thought, Vlad found himself disliking the very idea of going to the Fentons for the holiday. It felt _shallow_.

The thought was short lived, and as soon as it was gone, Vlad reminded himself that Maddie would be there.

And what about Daniel? The billionaire hesitated as he was blind sided by a small nagging thought in the back of his mind… Daniel… He will be…

Happy to be home…

A saddened expression flecked across his gaze while he placed the receiver onto the cradle.

----

"We'll be taking a private plane after arriving at the airport." Vlad turned to the boy and paced over to the base of the bed to pick up the green lava lamp. Daniel paused to feel that old strange tingle of someone grasping his entire body. Unlike before, he felt rather pleased by it.

"Why don't you just wish we were at Amity Park?" The genie said while he stretched his limbs and nimbly adjusted the tie around his neck with the help of gazing at a large mirror that rested on a wall in the bedroom.

"Because I'm rich, and I can grant a few of my own wishes."

A smile swept across Vlad's face when Daniel turned to look at him in a surprised fashion. "What? Did you expect me to rely on your new powers for everything? I should hope not… I could wish us there, but that wouldn't be _normal_."

"And a private airplane is?"

"To me, yes. Now get moving… I have a limousine outside waiting for us." At this, Vlad turned and started out the door, picking up a travels case as he did so. Daniel started to pick up his pace; ignoring the irony in Vlad's words, and followed before he got too far away from his lamp. Danny made approximately five steps out of the bedroom when Vlad noticed the teen's footsteps across his mansion floor.

"Do I have to wish that you looked at least ready to go?" Danny heard Vlad grumble as he walked ahead.

The genie paused to wonder what it was that _wasn't_ presentable until he realized that he was in bare feet. Odd. Danny hardly noticed, but now that he was aware he raised his hands and clapped them together. Shoes.

The sound of clapping hands made the billionaire glance over and see the slight change.

"Is that all?"

"Would you like something else?" Danny said with a sudden conniving little grin grown across his youthful complexion.

Vlad quickly answered, reminded consequently that Daniel was likely to try something drastic.

"No." He said; and in many ways he meant it. He preferred it when he didn't see a wolfish grin across the teen's face. Vlad much enjoyed it when the teen was ignorant of his thoughts. As he walked, he wondered if Daniel would have stayed ignorant forever had he not been trapped in a lamp… Probably not.

Nothing ever really lasts.

----

To be continued…

**Many thanks for the wonderful reviews! I wish I could hear more from all of you! Special thanks to… **_Kirril_ (Guess this chapter answers half of what you asked. Ha ha! You never know what could happen!) _Pieling_ (Thank you :3 I'm a rather big fan on genie mythology, if you ever have the time I recommend reading the Bartimause trilogy by Jonathan Stroud.) _Sasia93_ (I love it too:D) _Nonsuki-chan_ (I was worried that it didn't. now I'm assured! Thanks!) _FantomDrako_ (Des likes to eat Norms for breakfast :B. I'm glad you like this! I live off of people liking these stories! I hope you liked this one, although it was a bit slow.) _The 13th Unlucky Jinx_ ('Life's a bitch, but I'm so much more worse.' Wow, I like that line:D I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter as I did (or more) writing it.) _Nakokun _(twenty-four year old Danny is hawt, and Vlad can't deny it! Woo! If I could read Spanish… I would be reading your fan fiction 'cause In all honesty, I think I've read almost all the danny/vlad fics in English! D: We need more courageous writers!) _sparkling silver angel wings_ (Man loving happens when Vlad starts to give in :) that's all I'm going to say.) **A super awesome THANKS to _Ceystone Comet_ for creating the first ever fan art based on this fanfiction.**(OMGILOVEYOU! You are a master at digital editing! Haha! I love the tie! It is SO Vlad's! Check out livejournal dot com and search under channels for 'Ms.ceystone comet' to find it.) _Illustriously Unsound_ (Glad you caught up, hehe.)

**Reviews (and fan art!) are so great to see! I hope you all enjoy reading further chapters of 'You Wish!' In the mean time, I must do some detective work about Vlad's cat!**


	15. Chapter 15

Sorry for the extraordinary long wait. I didn't intend to take so long…

Chapter fifteen, Here and There.

----

A sleek ebony vehicle- longer than the average car- calmly sped down the driveway and out onto the highway while a certain flying ghost fighting assault ship began to make its descent to the doors of the elaborate mansion, unaware of the limousine fading in the distance.

"Are we there yet?" Norm asked for the twenty seventh time.

"No." Desiree answered through her teeth.

Without waiting, Norm asked again- having grown tired of being afraid of dieing, and was now trying to spend the last of it doing what he could do best. Annoy. "Are we there yet?"

"Only slightly." The ghost eyed Norm murderously as the ex-genie examined his nails calmly.

"Are we there-"

Desiree spun around and inched up towards Norm in a ghostly menacing style, her hair licking the air almost like black flames. "Oh for crying out loud! If you get your immortality back, I'm going to make you _wish_ you were dead!" Her eyes flashed red.

Norm feigned the look of boredom but his instincts lied to him as he shrank away from Desiree's lethal form.

"Ah hah… pun… you know, you really aught to try some other phrases."

"_Shut up!_" Desiree hissed as she turned away, wordlessly declaring that the conversation had ended, and if it were to continue, it would not be her doing. Norm watched her turn away, observing quiet pleasantly the small of the ghost's slender back.

"… So…" Norm spoke up as he raised a brow suggestively. His tone had a small spark of sly curiosity that made Desiree hesitate and look over her should at Norm. A bit of her cool black hair slid over her slim shoulders and trailed down along her Saharan fashioned top. She lifted a brow leisurely. Norm casually licked his lips and said:

"Are we ther-"

_SHHhllloomp!_

Seconds after hearing the first syllable of Norm's ridiculous and infuriating phrase, Desiree had taken the smoof made vacuum that was within her reach and switched it on, sucking Norm up into the cramped spaces of the dusty cleaner.

"Oh come on!" Norm's voice whined out from the mouth of the cleaner.

"I should leave you there to die, but since it's Christmas Eve, you'll just have to wait until I'm in a good mood until you're coming out."

"…" There was a moments though before Norm figured out something. "And how long can you stay in a bad mood?"

"Longer than you can live." Desiree growled contently.

Before the genie could bother trying to apologize, the two would-be genie's were interrupted by the sound of beeping from the dash board of the ship.

They've arrived.

Desiree looked out from the window shield of the Fenton contraption. Vlad Masters mansion stood out on its own, standing proud and tall- taller than any of the trees around it, and had there been other buildings around Vlad's Mansion- it would be proudly larger and taller than those.

"What's that noise? What's going on? Hello?" Norm was ignored for approximately a minute and fifteen seconds while Desiree warily watched as the Fenton Specter Speeder automatically began round the establishment to find a secure landing place.

"We're here." Desiree said sounding distracted. The ghost leaned over in the drivers' seat, trying to get a look at the building for any forms of life. She couldn't see any at this moment.

"What!? Let me out-" Norm didn't really have to ask, Desiree broke off her train of thought and pressed the reverse button on the vacuum before Norm could finished his sentence.

In a rush of tunneled air, Norm was tossed out from the Vacuum cleaner and onto the floor just as the Specter Speeder landed on its mechanical legs. Norm landed awkwardly on his feet and stumbled a bit in addition to the rumble of the vehicles landing. Desiree didn't notice as she was paying more attention to the mansion.

Without a word, or even a glance, Desiree phased through the window shield of the specter speeder.

"Hey- wait up!" Norm was intending to follow Desiree in the same fashion, but stopped seconds before trying to jump through the glass window of the speeder.

"Right. I'm not dead yet." At this, Norm turned and went to the door which fortunately had an easy-to-understand button next to it saying 'open'.

Norm caught up with Desiree at one point, but even Norm had to stop and observe the size of the property. He also couldn't help but notice there were a few tangerines scattered about on the lawn in the thawing winter snow.

This screamed Genie to Norm.

Reminding himself that he was cold and he needed to catch up with Desiree, Norm picked up his pace just as he watched Desiree phase through the front doors of the mansion.

"One perk of being dead… Doors are pointless." Norm grumbled to himself just as he reached the entrance of the mansion and went to open it.

From inside, Desiree hovered just above the floors of the main entrance, looking into a mansion with nobody inside. Biting her lip, Desiree's fears that no one was here grew. She was about to check if her concerns were just a premonition when she heard a knock on the door.

_Oh yeah, Norm_. She turned to look at the door and noticed a security lock and code key. She had to get Norm in, but not through the front door.

Norm waited for five minutes, shivering in the cold with his sun glasses sliding down the bridge of his nose. He knocked on the door a series of times, but gave up as soon as he figured Desiree was letting him freeze out here for irritating her. In all honesty, Norm didn't exactly want to annoy Desiree- but it was something he did so much that it was second nature. She didn't really deserve to be victim of his habits but ever since he had known the ghost-genie, he couldn't help but bother her.

Part of it was because Norm had never liked the idea of a dead genie, but aside from that, he had the general idea that she was fiery, temperamental, and hard to please diva. In many ways, he was right- she was all of that; and more- if he remembered correctly.

Which was probably why they hadn't hit it off too nicely.

Norm, in his immortality had been more caught up with living life- pushing the limits and the people around him that he easily lost interest in one gal after another, Des was no exception. Eventually, Desiree got rather _annoyed_ at Norm's philandering. It was a wonder Desiree hadn't tried crushing his head with a stone the moment she saw him again.

_Oh wait… She did._

"Norm, get over here!"

The former genie perked up, shivering still, at a voice that sounded a lot like Desiree's coming from one side of the mansion. This is saying something because the building was large, and for Norm to be able to hear- well then Desiree must have yelled loudly. Hurriedly, Norm picked up his sandaled feet and jogged along the side of the building, making short noises of discomfort as he trudged through the soft snow.

At one point Norm had stepped on a small orange and nearly slipped- but before his head could collide with icy snow, a ghostly green arm latched out and snagged the back of Norm's sleeveless vest and caught him.

One short glance over his shoulder told him that Desiree at the end of the arm, leaning out from an unlocked window.

"Stop playing in the snow and get in, Norm." She grumbled.

Norm hesitated to correct her, but seeing as his toes were numb and Desiree was still irked by him, he wordlessly clambered into the mansion through the open window- which happened to be stained with splatters of tangerine fruit, giving them a slightly pale tint of orange.

Once he was back onto his feet, Norm brushed himself off of snow and the cold while he glanced around curiously.

This Vlad guy was ritzy… Why couldn't he have a master that was already rich and wealthy? It would make wishing a lot easier…

Norm decided not to think any further about the topic as it contradicted everything he hated about being a genie. Instead, the ex-genie looked up to see Desiree already exploring the residence.

"Where is everyone?" Norm quietly asked so to not break the eerie silence of the building.

Desiree didn't respond again and Norm was beginning to grow tired of this silent treatment, but knowing that he was trespassing, without his powers, and potentially at the risk of finding a young genie with a bone to pick with him, he'd much rather stay hidden before he found this Vlad person…Convince him to wish the ghost boy out from his lamp and…

Return to being a genie in a bottle.

The two choices that Norm had did not have wonderful results… It wasn't whether you take the easy way or the hard way, it is picking the lesser of the two evils.

Desiree disappeared through the walls of the mansion, shifting through solid objects like air as she searched the house. Norm had only managed to scout the living room and wander into a massive kitchen when Desiree returned, looking paler than usual.

Desiree didn't have to say anything to Norm- the ex-genie could tell no one was home. But it was worth asking; he needed to ask before he started to morbidly freak out.

"… They're not here… right?"

"... I don't know where they could be." Desiree responded, watching Norm carefully as if expecting a fuse to break.

"Oh great," He swung his arms up, "So that means I'm dead." He rolled his eyes, letting the new emotion- frustration- settle across his features.

"No you're not!" Desiree shot back quickly- which didn't help as it bluntly pointed out Desiree's own distress at the situation. Norm didn't move, and his sunglasses hid the expression in his eyes as he watched Desiree. "Exactly how do you think we're going to know where they are?"

Desiree faltered and pretended to find more interest with the floor boards than Norm.

"I…I don't know. I don't associate with Vlad- all I know is what I hear from other ghosts! But-"

"Oh great! Why don't we just search the whole world! That'll only take… oh, maybe _too long_." Norm didn't bother to control the volume of his voice, now that he had lost his concerns for being caught by anyone within the house, aside from the only two that he wanted to find.

"You're not going to die, Norm. We can-"

"We can what? Make a list of all possible places that a billionaire with a genie would go?" Norm glowered haughtily while he raised his hands up to his brow and began to run his fingers through his series of small black curls upon his crown.

"No! We can-"

"Let's face it… I'm going to die! Why don't I just find myself a grave stone and make it easier for everyone. Inscribe the words 'Canada got lucky' on it when I-" Norm's speech was interrupted with Desiree as she took a hold of Norm's shoulders and shook them violently to silence the genie.

"_Nobody is going to die!"_ Her eyes glowed ominously at Norm, daring to burn a hole through the back of his skull. Her black silky hair almost waved in the air with the help of her eerie green aura, flecking over her usually soft features as she desperately glowered at Norm.

As Desiree had hoped, Norm was scared into silence and after feeling satisfied with Norm's drawn back expression, she gently loosened her grip on Norm's shoulders.

"Look…" Desiree huffed, letting the hot air from her mood blow out in her voice. "Vlad will be back, wherever he's gone… And ghost-boy will be with him…"

Norm could tell from how she spoke she was gradually trying to calm down. He hung back doubtfully while she continued to explain the silver lining of this dark cloud.

"It's no use trying to follow them… If they catch on to us, we'll never be able to get a hold of your lamp…"

Norm nodded his head slowly, pretending to understand where Desiree was trying to get at with explaining the obvious.

"From the looks of this place, Vlad will be back-"

"How do you know that?" Norm inadvertently interrupted Desiree, who in turn cast Norm a short impatient look.

"_Because…_" Desiree gestured with a wave of her hand to the surrounding kitchen and living room. "Knowing Vlad… this is his home and all his secrets are here. He'd probably return here even if he had a genie to wish him a room in the white house."

Norm considered this slowly and frowned at Desiree as the ghost sighed and folded her slender arms before her tilted hips.

"Judging from the lack of house sitters, or ghosts for that matter, he'll be back soon, anyways." She said while she huffed a bit of air upwards in the attempt to brush aside her raven hair from her eyes.

Norm stared blankly, allowing Desiree's advice to sink in before his mouth slowly fell open as a means to speak.

"So…" He licked his lower lip, "what do we do in the mean time…?"

"_You_ are going to act as much like a human."

"What! Why?" Norm's jaw dropped open, looking somewhat similar to a fish as he gapped at Desiree and her ridiculous words. Him? Act human?

"_Because,_" Desiree drew up to Norm, glaring through the eye free of her black hair "the less you use your powers, the longer it will take before you _die._"

Norm recoiled his head as Desiree drew up to him. He wasn't going to take the chance that she might try smacking him, or worse. Desiree took Norm's reaction with an unpleasant smile that only a ghost can accomplish.

"Do whatever… Sleep, eat, just no powers." And to emphasize this, Desiree snapped her fingers, just as Norm would habitually do when using his powers. In turn, Norm scowled in a childish manner before he marched his way out from the kitchen to the living room.

"How do you know about these things anyways? I mean, where do you come up with these absurd theories!?" Norm spun on his heel to face Desiree as the ghost lingered in the kitchen.

"I wasn't always a ghost, you moron." Desiree shot back while she made her way into the den, her arms folded over one another at her small waist.

"Can I withdraw that question?" Norm said, suddenly aware that Desiree was looking less annoyed than she did troubled.

"Is that a wish?" Desiree perked up with a grim smirk.

"Don't be sick."

Desiree began to chuckle lightly at Norm's quick response while the former genie wandered out from the living room into what appeared to be a dinning room.

"So we just wait?" He asked, knowing Desiree was slowly following up behind him.

"_You_ can wait. I'm going to celebrate Christmas Eve."

"Wai- What!?" Norm's sudden voice of alarm encouraged a curious brow to raise on Desiree's feature. The ex-genie cleared his throat and resumed. "So you're just going to leave me here with no one to drive insane?" Norm attempted not to sound too desperate but from the fox like grin across Desiree's gaunt face, she had seen through his guise.

"Oh don't be such a baby… I'm said I was going to celebrate Christmas Eve, I didn't say I was going anywhere."

----

The limo ride was relatively calm for the fact that Daniel seemed too tired to try anything this early in the morning. Vlad had even watched as the teen yawned various times and dozed off on the opposing side of the compartment. Besides growing accustom to Daniel's appearance, the billionaire couldn't help but notice how observant he has become while watching the boy.

For the most part, Vlad watched Daniel to make sure he wouldn't try anything, but a little bit of him watched Daniel because he felt a small form of bliss in studying the innocent child. Daniel was asleep, or at least he was sure that he was, but deciding not to risk it, Vlad forcefully kept himself awake, even after yet another night of minimal sleep.

He yawned a few times and even looked away from Daniel as it grew more apparent that he felt more tired every time he laid eyes on his curled up form. Nevertheless, the lull of the long vehicle compelled himself to close his eyes now and then.

By the time the limousine rolled to a stop, Vlad jerked his head up after another short moment of shut eye and hastily looked around himself. Danny was still curled up on the opposing seat, but as Vlad focused his gaze more specifically to the genie's face, he could see two pools of aqua blue eyes stare right back at him intently.

For a moment there, Vlad got the idea that Daniel had been watching him like a wolf stalking a sheep. The billionaire pursed his lips and frowned, allowing himself to dismiss the thought as some strange fantasy while the side door opened, complimentary to the chauffeur.

In the private plane, a late brunch had been made up just before Vlad and Daniel boarded the plane. Without much hesitation, the teen went straight to wolfing down his meal as the plane began to pick up speed on the airway.

Tired and slightly assured that Daniel was preoccupied with something to do, or eat, Vlad skipped his complimentary meal and retreated to another quarter of the plane. He shut the door behind him, even though he knew there as no apparent reason to doing so- except maybe to establish that he was in one compartment of the plane, and Danny was in another. There, he sat himself down on a long embroidered couch and rested his head back into the comforts of the seat.

Vlad was felling particularly stoic since he had seen Daniel watch him so carefully on the limo ride. It bothered him because he felt almost vulnerable under that child's gaze. Then he would feel utterly ridiculous into thinking that he was in any form of danger with Daniel around. It should be the opposite- after all- he was the one with the lamp.

His thoughts strayed slowly from Danny to Maddie and the other Fenton's and before he knew it, Vlad had fallen to sleep as the plane flew him and Daniel to Amity Park. The only time that he was aware that they were nearing their destination was when a small noise of declaration renounced through the speakers of the plane.

'We'll be landing in a few minutes, please take a seat.'

Vlad was already seated, so the small reminder wasn't what had stirred him to full alert, it was due to the sudden realization that something was on his lap that moved ever so slightly.

Frowning, Vlad opened one eye lazily to spot Daniel with his head resting on the comforts of his lap. Just resting. Not trying anything that could, if Daniel was in his right mind, have made the child gag. Vlad's brows knitted together while he raised a hand slowly to his own neck, as if to check for any sore skin that could indicate a hickey. Nothing. The billionaire looked down at the child now with more growing wakefulness. The genie didn't try anything. He didn't wake him up as Vlad had presumed he might do as he did before.

Vlad was reminded of the boy's falsely blue colored eyes watching him intently. He found himself feeling almost confused with seeing the boy give up this opportunity that he had accidentally offered him. Quietly, Vlad gulped, partially glad that the boy had indeed given up the chance. But why?

The teen stirred and turned himself so that he was looking up, and in the most satisfied fashion, yawned and peeked his eyes open, returning a sly look up at Vlad, who probably looked rather vexed.

"What are you doing?" Vlad said, unable to hide the slight growl in his voice.

Daniel only turned his head so his nose partially nuzzled to Vlad's waist, almost as though he was still amusing himself with the idea that he was using his lap as a pillow. Vlad felt undignified, and Daniel seemed to be aware of this. The teen yawned as he answered; flashing a short, fox-like grin across his visage.

"I'm psycing you out." He answered.

----

To be continued…

----

Thank you for your reviews! I'm updating and writing a few other fan fictions aside from this one, so I hope you guys don't mind. Good news is, they are all related to Danny Phantom. Bad news… um… is there really any bad news when it comes to writing DP fan fictions?

**A Big fat thanks to: **_Ember07__NightmareAhead__Evelyn Lucia__CeyStone Comet__Xx.Fma-Dnangel.xX__sparkling silver angel wings,__The 13th Unlucky Jinx__animegurl088__Starchild Blue__Illustriously Unsound__pirate34__FantomoDrako__Pieling__Sasia93_ and_LuvrOfAnime_**You guys are so great!**


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter sixteen, The Plans.

----

His skin was pale, even when he resided in his human form and no matter how long Danny watched Vlad's resolute complexion, he would always find himself wondering if the rest of his body was as pale as what he already could see.

While his master slept, Danny could have stared him long enough to make a mental portrait of the male in acrylic paints, with his ridged shoulders fallen slack and his carefully groomed hair pressing against the back of his bare neck. It was a wonder that Danny had restrained himself from jumping the man's lanky bones, but the genie knew better than to ruin his opportune chances to play with him now.

The moment he would have woken up with a sensual- but possibly unwanted- kiss, Danny would have had that much more trouble trying to squeeze through the small holes in Vlad's wishes the next time. Danny wanted to get Vlad at the right moment; and now wasn't it. He had a burning desire to show Vlad how entirely wrong it is to like- _love_- Maddie, and the only way to do that was to show that he was better.

Fleetingly, Danny heard that old voice again in the back of his mind, asking why exactly he would want to prove something as ridiculous as his affections to Vlad. He wouldn't care; he was evil after all…Wasn't it obvious?

Apparently not. For approximately ten minutes, Danny mulled over his thoughts, trying to invent himself an answer, but eventually gave in when he could only come up with 'just because'. He wanted Vlad _just because._

The alternative wasn't so bad. He was still a tad bit weary since all of Vlad's wishing, and the billionaire's lap did look exceptionally welcoming…

Not long after the man dozed off, Danny joined him for a bit of shut eye, whether it was wanted or not. When he wasn't resting, Danny was spending his time simply staring up at the older half ghost.

And when he noticed Vlad stir, after what only felt like a few minutes, he opened his eyes to earn the most perplexed expression he had ever seen on Vlad's pale demeanor.

Oh Danny loved screwing with his mind. He always did. Only now it was a little different.

About five minutes in from waking up to smiling smugly up at Vlad, Daniel had been pushed off when it was safe to get up in the plane and, in the most Vlad-like manner, the man stalked away, looking highly confounded.

It stayed like this on the way to the Fentons- _I mean, my home-_ and to Danny's humor, Vlad seemed almost paranoid whenever he simply looked at him along the way. He should be, Danny knew. After all, every time Danny did look at him, he felt the overwhelming urge to pounce the ignorant man and give him a reason to forget everything about Maddie.

Things seemed to be going perfectly swell until Danny and Vlad arrived at the Fenton's front door later in the afternoon.

Danny was about to clamber out from the vehicle before he was stopped by an arm on his shoulder and the sound of Vlad's voice as he cleared his throat.

"Get rid of that tie."

The genie stopped to look at Vlad blankly until the gears within his skull began to turn and feed the information to the rest of his mind. He had nearly forgotten about that. He was still wearing one of Vlad's ties loosely over his white and red designed t-shirt.

Reluctantly, Danny removed the red tie and tucked it away into one of his pockets.

It was a good thing Vlad had stopped him before he stepped out of the limo doors, because the next moment he had raised his head above the level of the car, he heard a loud and overjoyed yell.

"Danny! Oh thank heavens you are all right!" Not even a step away from the car and Maddie Fenton had darted out from the front door of her home and caught Danny in an iron hug. "Don't you ever go running off like that again, you hear me young man?" She said while taking one of her gloved hands to cup one side of his cheek. She continued to give Danny various mixed messages by telling how horrible it was for him to leave without informing any one while she would protectively hug and preen over her only son.

Danny finally managed to defuse himself from his mom when Vlad stepped out of the limo, only to be suddenly engulfed in the large arms of his father.

"Danny-my-man! Good to see you home!" he said in his usually loud and enthusiastic voice. Forget the iron hug, Danny was sure he would be strangled if his father didn't let go soon. He did, as expected, and Danny had a moment to catch his breath before one of Jack's hands landed on his back, making him stagger ever so slightly.

"Y-yeah, me too," Danny answered as he sucked some air into his lungs. He glanced aside to look over and spotted that Maddie and Vlad were speaking to one another. Danny's expression suddenly soured as he noticed how Vlad cooed at every one of Maddie's welcoming compliments.

"Thank you so much for bringing Danny home, Vlad." Notice how she didn't mention anything about being glad to actually see Vlad here?

"Oh, it was nothing, my dear Maddie."

"I hope Danny didn't cause too much trouble,"

"Of course not, he was very good." Vlad cast a look over at Danny.

_Liar_, Danny thought as he smirked. Vlad gave him a short annoyed glower before his undivided attention was consumed by Maddie's very presence.

It infuriated him Danny to just see Maddie easily captivate Vlad with careful comments. He could even tell how wary she was trying to avoid letting his master flirt with her. Vlad went to clasps one of Maddie's hands carefully when almost on cue, Jack interrupted the growing conversation.

"V-man! It's great to see you come down for the holiday!" How interesting to know that Danny's father was the one that was overjoyed to see Vlad here. He intercepted Vlad's personal space with only one step and gave the man a bear hug. Sometimes Danny wondered if his father had a subconscious radar that told him his wife was being hit-on. Whatever it was, Danny was glad that Vlad was quickly more concerned about regaining the feeling back in his torso when Jack plopped him back down from the hug than trying to butter up his mom.

"Not at all, _Jack_." He said, forgetting to care about hiding the bitterness in his voice while he fixed his collar and straightened his sleeves. "I didn't have anything planned for the holidays, anyways." At this, Danny wondered if that statement was true.

"Here, let me help you with your luggage!"

Jack started around for the back of the limo to pop the trunk. Almost as if reminded by something, Vlad turned and briefly leaned back into the compartment of the car to pull out a suit case that he had carried with him throughout the trip.

Danny knew his lamp was in there, he could feel it.

"You both must be exhausted from your long trip. Let's go in and get out of the cold," Maddie encouraged while she placed a motherly hand on Danny's shoulder.

At that instant, Danny didn't know why, but he stepped away, looking a bit perturbed to have his mother simply touch him on the shoulder. It didn't just shock Maddie and Vlad, but Danny too. For some reason, he didn't like the contact. Two hugs were enough for tonight.

And yet, as Danny went to manage a sheepish smile, Jazz came around from behind and swung her arms around her growing brother. "Danny! I'm so glad you are all right!" Danny jumped a little, but fortunately, it resembled a shiver from the cold while Jazz spun Danny around and got a look at him.

"Did anything happen?" She said, raising a brow slowly while she took a quick glance over at Vlad suspiciously.

"Um, no," Danny said, savoring in the fact that he could actually lie now. Just not to Vlad, though.

"Oh right," Jazz smiled and gave Danny a wink. Jazz wasn't that easily fooled and even though Danny usually liked that about his sister, he couldn't help but dislike how quick she was to catch on when she knew something was up. Vlad was here, after all; that was enough to make Jazz, Sam and even Tucker become suspicious.

"Let's go in," Jazz quickly suggested and took her brother by his arm and headed into the house, half dragging Danny who reluctantly wanted to stay close to his lamp and Vlad. The adults soon followed but not fast enough before Jazz pulled him into the living room.

"Okay, what's happened, Danny?"

"Wha- oh um… n-nothing," he answered, feeling his sister's piercing azure eyes drill into him.

"Vlad being here isn't 'nothing'. What do you think you were doing at Vlad's anyways!?" Jazz said in her overly protective sister voice while keeping her eyes locked onto Danny's, who in turn was trying to do anything but further eye contact.

Danny didn't have the time to answer, to his relief when Jack, Maddie and Vlad stepped through the threshold of the Fenton house and came within earshot of the conversation.

"Danny, why don't you go and get yourself changed, you must be tired from the trip." This came from Maddie while Jack mulled into the living room and placed Vlad's luggage next to the couch.

Danny didn't move to head up to his room until he caught a look from Vlad that wordlessly ordered him to listen to Maddie- _his_ _Mother._

Thankful to get away from Jazz's interrogation Danny weaved his way to the stairs and up to his room, casting Jazz a fleeting shrug of his shoulders and an apologetic look for having to leave. He marched up to his stairs and surprisingly nearly missed walking past his own bed room door. Danny thought nothing of it as he re-tracked a few of his steps and wandered into his bedroom to see it looking as average as it always did.

Danny could feel the faint prickle in his stomach that was telling him he was standing at his boundary line from his lamp

It seemed odd to be in his room, or maybe it as the nagging sensation in his torso, but he willed it aside and wandered over to his dresser carefully, and opened one drawer to look into it. Not only did the room seem odd to him, but so did his choice of attire. Maddie did want him to get changed though.

Looking at the selections that he had, Danny quickly came to the conclusion that if he was going to wear anything, it would not be coming from these drawers. Danny felt too spirited to wear something average. But one of Vlad's wishes was to act normal…

He was impulsive on a normal standard, wasn't he? Danny smiled brightly to himself. He was- on a normal day-to-day standard a ghost hero and menace to Amity Park. Not one thing in that very sentence is normal. Daniel smiled; perhaps he can get away with something a little festive.

Danny clapped his hands together and his shirt disappeared in a small popping noise in addition to a bit of sparkles. It was then replaced with a white form fitting turtle neck with white cufflinks and a candy cane red hem at his waist. He clapped his hands again and his pants were replaced with a pair of slim black jeans to resemble Santa's black boots. A hand instinctively went to check that Vlad's tie was still in his left pocket.

Pleased with the reflection of himself as he stood at akimbo- hands firmly planted at his hips- before a mirror hanging above the dresser, Danny went to remove his shoes and add an ebony belt around his waist to complete his impulsive Christmas attire.

But just as he was slipping on his belt and wiggling his toes that were now clothed in black socks Jazz opened the door to his room.

"Danny, look- we got to do something-…" Jazz stopped to see Danny spin around on his heels in surprise. "Uh… Nice …er… clothing, Danny." She said, raising a brow at him. "I didn't even know you had anything like that here…"

"Do you ever knock!?" Danny said, feeling highly exposed now that he realized his sister could have barged in and seen him using a bit of his magic at any time.

"Not when it's this important. Danny, what is that fruitloop planning this time?" Danny's sister carefully closed the door behind her.

"W-what? Oh he's not planning anything, Jazz." He said, not entirely sure himself. Danny waved his hands, trying to dismiss the topic as unimportant.

Danny's older sister fixed her eyes on him observantly while her lips formed a thin line of concern.

"You're not being controlled by him or anything?"

"Wha- No!" Danny stammered, knowing very well how close Jazz was with that sarcastic joke for a question. Danny raised his hands, palms exposed as a means to show innocence. "Look, Jazz. All I know is that Vlad was celebrating Christmas all on his own-"

"Do you expect me to think that you went to Vlad's just to make sure he wasn't alone during the holidays?" Jazz raised a brow doubtfully.

"Um… yes?"

"Seriously… is he blackmailing you?" Jazz said, her arms crossing in front of her chest.

"No!" Danny shoulders stiffed. Jazz was getting far to close to the truth, and all Danny was doing was lying. Perhaps Vlad was right- he was a terrible liar. Gulping briefly, Danny frowned and closed his eyes irritably; Looks like he was going to have to use the story that Vlad made up for him on their trip to the airport. "Look, Jazz… I know he _wasn't _planning anything."

"For what? Christmas or 'ways-to-bump-off-dad-and-win-mom'?"

"Neither- that's why I headed there in the first place; to make sure that he wasn't planning anything,"

"But…?" Danny could tell from her voice that she wanted him to finish the story.

"But he caught me spying, so he kind of used me as a reason to get here tonight. So I don't know any more if he has anything planned." Danny's shoulders slumped sourly, knowing that part of his explanation was true. He didn't know what Vlad was planning anymore.

"Hm… Well, since he's already here, we can't exactly get rid of him without Mom and Dad wondering where he's gone." Danny blinked at his sister- wow. She was protective. She placed a hand to her lower lip and tapped it pensively.

"We can't do anything, huh? Expect keep him away from mom." Danny said, trying to suggest a lighter means of cooping with the situation. He shrugged his shoulders and Jazz lifted one of her eyebrow thoughtfully before an idea lit up in her eyes.

"…And we can make sure his stay is so tiresome that he won't have any time to try any of his schemes!" A devious smile formed over his lips. "And I have just the activity to make him want to leave… You can keep watch of him at night- just in case he tries to murder Dad in his sleep."

Danny stared at his sister intently. Jazz obviously appointed him to 'watch' because she knew that as a half ghost he would probably be able to stalk without being caught. She didn't know that Vlad had a ghostly sense, mainly because Danny never bothered to tell her. But he _liked_ the idea that he should watch over Vlad- he was intending to do that any ways…However, the other part of her plan was making him bit his lip. "Ur… what are you planning?"

"Oh, you'll see… Its a little game I learned in Collage, you'll love it… Vlad will hate it."

At this point, Danny could hardly fathom what his sister was intending to do, and before he could ask, Jazz made one of her excited giggles before she spun around on her heels and started downstairs. Danny was going to follow her- he wanted to ask her specifically what she had in mind, yet as he neared his door, he stopped to notice his Christmas gift for Jazz on the floor partially under the bed.

Danny scowled, knowing that he should do something about his Christmas gifts that he never bought. On a lighter note, Danny also realized that he had to get a gift for Vlad was well.

----

For the remainder of the late afternoon, Vlad had was forced to reside in the living room to talk idly with Jack- which proved to be very difficult as the conversation was more of a monologue. He intended to speak with Maddie, but the mother had announced that she would be spending her time making Christmas dinner in the kitchen that she would be too busy to talk about ghosts.

Maddie always had the time to spare for ghosts; but of course, a courteous man such as Vlad accepted her excuse while biting the inside of his cheeks irritably.

Eventually, Vlad's frayed attempts to tolerate Jack were nearly gone and he finally resorted to an excuse that he needed to phone a few people to wish a good holiday- which was no one, but Jack didn't have to know that.

So after stepping out from the living room, cell phone in hand, he passed Jack's daughter who gave him a nasty glower- one of which he returned with a malevolent grin before he slipped outside and stood at the door steps, dialing a few numbers into his cell.

It wasn't friends, but he certainly did have to act at least a little bit festive for Maddie and Danny. A few calls later and Vlad had gifts for the Fentons on their way to this very address.

He stayed outside a little longer, reluctant to return to Jack's immensely long theories of ghosts. He found listening to his vulture henchmen complaining more tolerable than Jack's infernal breakthroughs about ghosts. It wasn't because he didn't find it interesting, it was just because 1. He already learned everything and more than what Jack could have ever discovered about ghosts and 2. It was Jack speaking. It was only natural to hate it for Vlad.

He stepped back into the Fenton's household and slipped into the living room to spot a familiar face slouched over the quaint Christmas tree nestled in the corner of the small- to Vlad's standards- room. He was placing gifts beneath the decorated tree and from what Vlad could see, he was wearing a different wardrobe for the holiday.

The billionaire didn't have long to analyze Danny's clothing for too long because Jack's eyes lit up at the sight of the silver haired man.

"Hey V-man! Come down to the lab, I wanna show you one of my inventions, the Specter Deflector!"

Vlad shivered visibly as he squinted at the man. He already knew what that item was; he also knew that if Jack tried to get him near any of his new or old inventions, he could risk putting the safety of his alternate identity in the hands of a clumsy oaf.

"… Actually I was just going to ask if Maddie would like any help in the kitchen, Ooh Maddie-"

"That's all right Vlad, I have Jazz to do that for me, isn't that right Jazz? Can't have too many people in the kitchen all at once." Maddie called out from the kitchen hastily.

Jasmine was sitting in the living room on the couch presently, but at the sound of her name, she poked her head up from her text book and looked to the kitchen, and then to Vlad.

Vlad could almost see the gears in the red-head's mind turn.

"Rrr-ight! I'll start slicing the potatoes for the scallop…" She said unconvincingly and got to her feet to dart into the kitchen.

Vlad stared.

_Oh butter biscuits._

In a matter of moments, Jack had one of his large hands onto his shoulder and thumping them enough to make the billionaire's knees buckle while he lead Vlad down to the lab to show off his hazardous toys.

----

Vlad managed to survive Jack's tour through his lab, his identity intact too, although there was a close call when Jack started to flail his Jack-o-Nine-Tails about as an 'example'. Inevitably, Vlad survived, and so did Jack, to Vlad's disappointment. He had considered killing the man and making it look like an accident, but thought against that as he could easily snuff out Jack's life with just a wish and never be suspected.

And besides, it was Christmas Eve, and even though he hated ghosts and their ridiculous rules, Vlad kept in mind of the truce and the possible chances of what could happen if he tried to break it.

When they called for dinner, Vlad was incalculably relieved to get away from Jack's lab. It was while he slipped into the quaint kitchen that he realized Daniel had been watching him all the time he was in the lab. Vlad didn't find this at all comforting.

Dinner began once everyone was seated, and almost as though Vlad wasn't there, the Fentons began to enjoy a festive holiday dinner. It felt, to a middle class family, rather pleasant other than the occasional glances towards him from the red haired Jazz or the fleeting looks from Daniel who, assuming that the boy couldn't be trusted right now, was planning something devious.

But during dinner, all of that didn't matter. They ate, they laughed and exchanged fleeting events, and idle debates that were usually solved when someone paused to take a drink of offered eggnog. Vlad wasn't so much as apart of it, but more of an observer- one that they didn't ignore, but they didn't include entirely. When Maddie asked Daniel of his stay at Vlads, the half ghost stole a look towards him before he answered with the rehearsed story that he had gone over with on their limo ride to the airport. Vlad smiled meekly.

He felt as though he had been missing out on these smiles- the family like nature amongst these people. Even Jack's smile, though always annoying, seemed a bit more likeable around the dinner table. Just from sitting there and listening, Vlad felt the odd idea that he was welcomed at this dinner table. Albeit, he had to lie he way to get there, which made him feel all the more undeserving of the situation, but welcomed. Brushing aside the grimy sensation in his stomach, Vlad smirked calmly to himself on cue when Jack announced a catch phrase to one of his less-than-funny-jokes.

"Oh mom! We have to try out a game I learned from a few friends at university after dinner." Gushed Jazz as she exchanged a sly look across the table to her brother. It wasn't hard to catch on, since Daniel was, after all, sitting next to him. Frowning, Vlad arched a brow as he watched Jazz blossom an excited smile. Dinner was half way done, and there was talk about blueberry buckle being warmed in the oven.

"What sort of game, Jazz?" Maddie looked briefly skeptical. Vlad couldn't blame her. If he remembered correctly, university 'games' weren't exactly the safest family activity.

"Oh, not a drinking game or anything like that, Mom," she rolled her eyes then hesitated. "Not unless you want it to be-"

"Jazz…" Maddie's familiar warning voice.

"It's a card game," Jazz recovered quickly and grinned. "We should all sit in the living room and give it a try. I know you'll love it."

"What sort of game?" Daniel piped up, looking equally curious as the rest of the family. Jazz managed a large grin.

"You'll see…"

----

To be continued…

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Next chapter is already written and will be submitted in a few days. Sorry for the really, really long wait.

**Thank you SO MUCH for the reviews, **_Dpshadow, The 13__th__ Unlucky Jinx_(stares intently at the fluffy ball :D Omg, this beats furby any day.) _Animegurl08, EnVyS pEt NeKo2, Ravwin, Nonasuki-chan_ (haha! Yeah, I don't know- I just like a Dan-like Danny. Hee) _Sparkling Silver Angel wings _(Almost there. :3 Vlad thinks Danny's affections have to do with being a genie, so he doesn't think they are real. Creates angst, eh?),_ NightmareAhead _(Thanks, again! gives a big fat hug along with that) _Xx.Fma-Dnangel.xX _(I write because I loved to hear from all of you, no need for thanks!), _Shann1_ (haha! Glad that fellow Canadians like this!), _Arin_, _Fanfictionfan123, ContradictoryOrien_ (hee, yeah, even I sometimes remember the age differences… but then again, I always think that Vlad's immortal or something, I dunno- haha!)

I've started using a DA account, so if you want to check out some pictures based on 'You Wish' and more, look up 'DinKelion' on 


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter seventeen, The game of Mal.

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The family and Vlad strayed to the Fenton's den, Danny and Vlad being the last to leave. Vlad was being cautious by entering the den last, whereas Daniel was being watchful and making sure he wasn't excluded from this evening. Vlad might have liked the idea that Daniel was trying to be friendly, but the billionaire had a good idea that he had other intentions.

Around in a circle, the family and Vlad sat. Maddie beside Jack, Jack besides Vlad, Vlad beside Danny, Danny beside Jazz, and Jazz beside Maddie; all on the carpeted floor of the room while space was provided by moving the coffee table. Jazz was already shuffling a deck of cards with the most pleasant and mischievous smiles on her face as she looked around the members of the house hold and Vlad.

"What was the name of this game? I can't remember if you told us or not." Vlad had to ask, perhaps knowing that would take the edge off her smile.

Jazz's eyes narrowed fluidly as she carefully shuffled the cards.

"It's called Mal. The one rule of this game is not to tell any one the rules."

There was a pause in the room where the only thing that could be heard was the shuffling of the deck. Danny popped the most obvious question that was on every ones minds.

"Wait… how does that work?"

"Easy. We play Mal and I can't tell you how to play it. You'll have to learn that on your own." Jazz answered and began to pass out the cards. A smile sprang up across Maddie's face while she looked at her daughter. "So we learn to play by playing? Oh that sounds fun sweetie!"

"Yeah, but… how do we know we are playing the game right?" Jack was the one to ask this.

"You'll figure it out." Jazz said while she kept her eyes on the cards that she passed out. For some reason, Vlad got the immediate impression that he was not going to like this game. Not only did the first rule contradict itself, but Jazz appeared to have the advantage of this game already because she knows how to play. She could even make up some rules that weren't true just to make the game more complicated.

With the seventh card passed out to everyone Jazz placed the deck face down in the center of the circle. Danny, Jack, and Vlad reached for their cards to pick them up, but before any of them could so much as peek at their cards, Jazz leaned over and picked up three cards from the top of the deck.

"For touching your cards before the game of Mal has officially begun." She passed a card to Daniel, who looked slightly perturbed with another card laying flat in front of him.

"For touching your cards before the game of Mal has officially begun." She gave Jack a card as well, and repeated the same words and action to Vlad.

Maddie was grinning vividly as she looked at the three aghast men- who all felt righteously ripped off.

"I didn't know that," Danny began.

"Now you do," Jazz replied as she leaned over to the deck of cards. She picked up another one and handed it towards Vlad.

"You're still breaking the second rule I've told you." She said, smiling innocently. Vlad teeth clenched before he could object crudely at Jazz's acutely annoying game. Slowly, Vlad placed his cards back down.

"It'd be nice knowing the entire rule," He said while doing his best to sound mildly amused in front of the family. Jazz smirked back and went to pick up another card from the top of the deck. For an instant, Vlad thought the red-head was going to toss him another card but rather than passing the card out to anyone around her, she played it face up next to the deck of cards. It was the five of clubs

"The game of Mal has officially begun."

----

Jazz knew what she was doing. She knew how to push buttons, and she knew which ones earned her better reactions. Take Vlad, for example. He was obsessive and power crazed. Any man like that would hate to stumble into a game without knowing any rules. Yes, a lot of people would hate to play a game where they don't know how to play, but the point was, Danny wasn't annoyed by this game as much as Vlad was. Danny was simply confused; Vlad was furious.

But as Danny expected, Vlad was very good at hiding his agitation while the game of Mal started.

At first, the game didn't make any particular sense. Jazz had to temporarily put the game on hold to point out that it was Maddie's turn and that even though she didn't know how to play, Maddie had to do at least something to figure out how to play the game of mal correctly.

Danny quickly figured out why his mother found this game amusing. It was a game of trial and error and the players had to pick up the rules as they watched the mistakes of others around them.

For example, shortly after Maddie placed a card over the first face up card- a six of diamonds-, Jazz gave her another card and said: "For playing a card out of suit."

When it was Jack's turn, he asked if it was okay to play a nine of clubs, then he learned that talking after the game of Mal has 'officially' begun earned him a card. Following soon after Jack's mistake, Danny went to state that Jazz was breaking the rule of talking whenever she imposed a rule. As a result, Danny earned two cards: "For talking, and for enforcing the rules inappropriately."

Danny also learned by watching Vlad play a seven that you had to say 'Have a nice day' whenever playing a seven of any kind. And then he learned that to change the suit of cards, you would have to play a card with the same face or number then call out 'double down'.

Soon enough, everyone was picking up on the rules and quickly learning how the game was played. To Danny, the game of Mal reminded him of playing a game of crazy-eights. Only eights didn't change the suit- the only way to change a suit was to place a matching card, jacks didn't skip a turn, twos didn't require someone to pick up two cards, and the queen of spades did absolutely nothing. Besides those rules, there was also the strange and quirky ones such as no talking, or saying 'have a nice day' while playing a seven.

Even though the group caught onto the game particularly fast, everyone except Jazz was holding more than five cards in their hands after the eighth turn. Jazz had one left and announced 'Last card' after playing her second last. Assuming that the game was similar to what Danny had earlier predicted, it meant that Jazz was going to win when she gets rid of her hand.

And in no less than five minutes to Jazz's next turn, she played her last card and announced. "Mal!"

Nobody moved.

"Soo… the game is over?" Danny asked slowly after a prolonged silence. He was afraid that he was going to get another card for talking- even if the game was over.

Jazz shook her head, grinning. "Of course not. The game ends when everyone gives up trying to play it." Jazz began to pick up the cards and gestured to Danny and her mother to give her their hands.

" Now that I've won this round of Mal, I get to make up a new rule."

"What kind of rule?" Vlad asked suspiciously as he arched a brow. Just by looking at him, Danny- only Danny- could tell he was having trouble losing against his sister. He probably didn't like to lose against anybody, let alone his sister.

"_Any_ kind," Jazz answered, her lips turning up at the corners. "And the more rounds we have, the more rules we get."

Something sparked in the back of Danny's mind as he realized what doors could open with playing this game. His sister cast a sly smile in his direction while she handed the deck to her mother. She knew this too, and she was planning to use this to drive Vlad crazy.

"It's mom's turn to deal… You know," Jazz grinned as she sat back on her feet. " Now that you all know some rules, everyone is allowed to call anyone for breaking a rule too."

With that 'advice' in mind, Danny sat patiently while his mother began to pass out the cards. He suddenly liked this game because of the opportunities he could get, especially with a bit of magic to enforce them. Jazz didn't have to know that…

The second round of Mal continued almost exactly the same as the last round- but with fewer mistakes- when all of a sudden, Jack had changed the suit to diamonds and Jazz passed him a card.

"For not saying 'Fruitloop' when playing a diamond.'"

Danny stifled back a laugh as he raised his shoulders. He quickly looked over to Vlad to see a stunned and placid expression. He was trying to not let it show, Danny knew. Just like Danny was trying not to crack a grin while Vlad stiffly placed a two of diamonds down and said through clenched teeth:

"Fruit…loop."

----

The game continued round after round. For the longest time, Jazz had kept on winning the rounds, but she must have known that it would be funnier to let someone else win because she purposely started to make mistakes. But she already had herself a number of new rules such as: For all diamonds played, the player must say 'Fruitloop'; When a five is played, the player must pat their head. For every double down, the player has to tug their left ear; For every face card, the player has to compliment a person to their right, which was very hard for Vlad since Jack sat to his right.

When Jazz finally let someone else win, Vlad was near to chewing his tongue to ribbons whereas Jack, Maddie, and even Danny were enjoying themselves. Maddie won the next round.

Eventually, the game of Mal soon became a game of words and actions with each card that was played. If Danny wanted to, he didn't even have to look at the card that was being played any more- just the person playing it. Maddie and Jazz had won most of the rounds, and Jack managed to win two of the rounds, while Vlad had only accomplished winning one. Danny hadn't won any of the rounds yet, but he was definitely trying now.

And thanks to one of Jazz's rules, Vlad had removed his hair band when Jazz gave him a card for 'Wearing his hair up while playing Mal'. Vlad took this as a dirty trick, and he responded ultimately by making his only rule as: 'For wearing mostly orange'.

Jack took Vlad's rule with light humor- and after earning a card, he got up to his feet and grabbed a blanket with Christmas colors from the back of the couch and wrapped it around himself. Jazz, on the other hand, took Vlad's rule as a challenge and later began to make up more rules such as 'For wearing a tie'. Or 'for wearing a dress shirt.'

It was at that point, when Vlad was reduced to removing his black tux top and tie to continue playing that Danny got a devious idea.

A few rounds later, and now with eggnog and a shot glass sitting in the circle- Jack had made up a rule that for every four played, the player would have to have a small drink of eggnog- Danny had finally won a round of Mal.

With his rule already set in mind, the cards were dealt out, Danny squirmed in his place, waiting for someone to play an even card. It was nearly a fifty-fifty chance that anyone would play an even, and as expected on the first turn, Jazz played a six of hearts.

Danny clapped his hands.

All faces were turned to him curiously- save for Vlad, as he looked more shocked than curious- and Danny smirked delightfully. He waited a second or so to see if any one would clue in, but no one did, so Danny leaned over and handed everyone a card as he explained his rule.

"For every even card played, everyone has to clap their hands."

Danny didn't even have to glance over at Vlad to know that his face paled momentarily. Vlad had made a wish that Danny couldn't reveal his secret to anyone, including not to give any hints or idea's that 'something is amiss'. But if it was just a rule in this game, Danny grinned confidently, then he wasn't showing any hints at all.

Danny decided that he loved this game, and that he was soon going to love it more. Vlad on the other hand, was looking back at him with a fleeting glare as if to warn him. Danny pretended not to notice it and clapped his hands when Maddie played an eight of hearts.

Everyone clapped their hands as Danny's new rule required them to and the teen grinned vividly. Vlad was the last to clap as he looked uneasily at him.

The game persisted with its new rules, adding on to the many others that were already made. Danny watched as his sister complimented her mother as she played a face card then said 'fruitloop!' since it was a diamond. Maddie then patted her head and also said fruitloop as she played a five of diamonds. Jack grinned as he slapped down a four of diamonds, yelled out 'fruitloop', clapped his hands- as everyone did- then poured himself a small drink of eggnog. Vlad visibly cringed before he played a four of clubs to avoid saying 'fruitloop', and reluctantly went to pour a glass of eggnog from his own given shot glass after saying 'Double four' and clapping his hands.

Without much waiting for Vlad to drink, Danny played a six of clubs. Vlad had to place the glass down and clap his hands as the rest of the family did the same. He resumed the action to taking a drink while he looked down into his hand idly. Suddenly the billionaire stopped and spluttered as if he accidentally gasped while trying to drink.

Danny smirked visibly while his master coughed and whipped his chin of eggnog carefully before staring back down at his cards.

"You okay there?" Jack asked like any other old friend might do. Vlad cleared his throat with a few smaller coughs while he picked up a card from the top of the deck and handed it to Jack.

"For –_cough_- talking."

This earned a laugh from most members of the family as they assumed that Vlad was trying to brush aside the concern with humor. Jazz and Danny knew better, but both of them were too pleased already to see the grim expression on his face. Jazz probably thought that the game of Mal was starting to get to him, but Danny knew better.

It would have surprised any one had they known what happened. But the only two people who knew what just happened were keeping it a secret. Vlad glanced over at the genie, who gave him a mock innocent smile. Nobody has to know that Danny just changed his and Vlad's hand to something entirely different. Nobody had to know that Danny now had the perfect plan to win each round of Mal and make this game a little bit more interesting for himself.

The game continued and with each even played, everyone clapped their hands and Danny secretly changed the cards in Vlad's hands each time. The billionaire almost seemed to flinch every time Danny clapped his hands by the fourth round- which, thanks to Danny- was his last turn before he won the next round.

"You look good with your hair down, Fruitloop." Danny said to Vlad as the last card he played was a queen of diamonds, then announced "Mal!" and won the round. Vlad nearly sneered at Daniel's compliment/insult.

With Danny's second rule set in mind, the cards were dealt out after a short bout of laughs and chit-chat before the game could 'officially begin' again. Vlad wasn't saying much, but Jack and Maddie were thoroughly enjoying themselves. It was Jazz's turn to deal out the cards once more and then it was Maddie's turn to play first.

The family occasionally paused to look at Danny before playing a card- curious as to know what he had in plan for another rule. It was no different to any one else who had just won a round of Mal. Danny grinned and as his turn came, he placed a nine of diamonds down then nimbly removed one of his socks. "Fruitloop!" The action was left partially unnoticed until it was Vlad's turn again and he- due to the hand that Danny had fixed for him, was forced to play a nine of spades.

"For not removing a piece of clothing when playing a nine." Danny said quickly and nudged a card from the top of the deck over in Vlad's direction. Jazz stifled a loud laugh as Vlad's jaw fell open.

----

"Danny!" Maddie was first to say after Vlad picked up his given card squalidly and gave the teen a short lived glare. Maddie was too concerned with Daniel's inappropriate rule to notice Vlad's expression- or the fact that she was breaking the second rule of Mal.

"What? I pulled off a sock when I played a nine. There's nothing wrong." Daniel's went to defend with a toothy smile.

Jack was humbly the one to point out that both Danny and Maddie were breaking rules while Jasmine was too busy stifling back tantrums of giggles.

"And when you run out of socks?"

"It's a rule, mum. And it's only a Nine. I'll probably end up playing it once a round if I'm lucky.."

"I don't know…"

"All right, how about we'll say all cards divisible to three besides nine requires someone to put on something?"

Maddie considered this for a moment or so and eventually gave in from the small sounds of Jazz's giggles. She obviously didn't want to ruin the fun and she sighed and nodded her head.

By now, Danny and Maddie received about three cards each- both of which were being given to them by Jack and Jasmine as they were having too much fun with this game. Vlad on the other hand, was looking worried.

Daniel was making this game into a magic trick, and he was using Vlad as the white rabbit. Vlad didn't just hate this game now, he was afraid of it. But he couldn't simply stop and ruin the 'family fun' as it were. Tempting as it was to halt everyone from saying 'fruitloop', Vlad knew it was an opportunity to 'get to know' the family. It seemed almost apparent now that Jazz had forgotten her earlier designs for this game to annoy Vlad and she was simply playing because she was having enormous fun. He didn't care for Jack, but Maddie was happy.

In all honesty, Vlad could have sworn there was reluctance in her eyes as soon as she saw him set foot into her home, but now she seemed almost pleased to have him participate in such a ridiculous activity.

The unrelenting game of Mal continued and as Jack played a two of clubs, everyone clapped their hands. To do so, Vlad had to place his hand down- as everyone else had to do, and as he went to pick them up again, his eyes closed with aggravation at the sight of the last two nines nestled in his hand that weren't there moments ago.

That genie was really pushing his luck, almost literally. Vlad glowered down at his hand then slowly played a nine of clubs, then removed one of his socks just as Danny did, then tucked his foot beneath him in a cross-legged fashion. Besides Danny and himself, the rest of the household must think he was getting a spectacular trail of bad luck.

Vlad wasn't going to let Daniel get away with this, and he wasn't going to simply stop playing due to the magical cheating. If anything, Vlad thought, he'd might as well try and get the better of the situation. Yes, he wanted to win a game- at least one just to prove Danny that he couldn't be beaten by trifling things like magic tricks.

Even with determination set in mind, approximately one round and three turns later, Vlad had lost both of his socks, vest and soon his shirt as his turn neared once more. It was time to throw in the towel. He couldn't compete against magic and Daniel, who as he watched, was itching to force him into an awkward situation. It would take some time to strip Vlad down, especially since he could only play four nines during each game.

Unlike Vlad, the rest of the family had to get up and grab something to put on every time they played a three or six- which he _never _got. Jack was sweating with a scarf, hat and mittens on, Jazz had her winter boots on and Maddie had pulled on her jacket.

It was soon going to be Vlad's turn after Jack pleasantly pulled on a pair of ear muffs. The billionaire paused to peek down at his hand and grimace at the sight of yet another nine asking to be played.

Vlad placed his cards down and sighed.

"I believe I've had enough eggnog for tonight." Vlad said with as much modesty that he could muster without gagging as he went to get his elastic hair band that he placed aside. All faces looked up curiously and hesitantly- mainly due to the fact that they were wondering if they should be tossing him a card for talking while in the middle of the game.

To emphasize his wish to stop playing, Vlad stood up to break from the circle, picked up his discarded articles of clothing and pulled back his hair gingerly to tie it up, then smiled.

"You all continue, I'll watch. From here," he said, masking his stagnant irritation with a pleasant smile and retired to the couch in the den. Most of them shrugged off Vlad's decision to give up, but Danny was gazing at him like a dog that watched a chew toy get thrown off a cliff. Vlad couldn't help himself at the look on Daniels face and ultimately smirked at him for slipping out from Daniel's magic snare.

It helped mask the complete humiliation he had pumping through his veins for quitting. He was Vlad Masters of all people. He didn't give up easily, whether it was winning a romance or dominating the world- ghost and human alike.

Yet it wasn't easy when someone forces your hand figuratively with magic. He was even amazed that no one seemed to notice the lack of nines that could have possibly gone missing from their hands. Vlad didn't know how that genie was getting away with changing his hands without any suspicious comments, but he managed.

Vlad sat and leaned forward with is elbows taking a rest on his knees as he watched, becoming invisible to the family as they resumed their game without a care in the world. Vlad snorted in a huffy manner and glanced away. He knew he shouldn't feel left out, although he quietly wished that the circumstances where different so he wouldn't have needed to stop.

Now that Vlad was no longer getting the nines that he got, Daniel appeared to be randomly letting anyone get a nine. Vlad observed quietly as they played that Daniel had removed his other sock. The game continued with no signs of ending even though Jack was having trouble trying to think of a rule when he won another round. Inevitably, to Vlad's irritation, he made a rule to hug the person to their right every time an eight was played. In turn to that rule, Maddie- who was probably feeling all too pleased by Jack's childish rule and hugs, made a rule for a person to kiss the person to their right for every ten played.

Fleetingly, he was glad he wasn't playing the game at that point because he wouldn't have liked the idea of hugging Jack, and he was sure that if he had tried to kiss Danny, it wouldn't be a silly peck on the forehead.

"Oh my, What time is it?" Maddie suddenly perked up after the group all clapped their hands when Jazz played an even card. A sense of time had trailed away from Vlad since he stopped playing, but as soon as he heard Maddie, he looked up at the clock hung in the living room thoughtfully.

"For talking" Danny, Jack and Jazz responded in unison and all went to hand Maddie a card. She muted a joking laugh while she turned to look at the clock.

"It's nearly twelve! You all need to go to bed before its Christmas."

She was handed another card, but this time she placed her hand down and pulled herself up from her knees.

Danny, "Aww mom, we're not ten years old." he whined as he placed his cards down. Jack still handed him a card anyways.

Maddie looked at her son and Vlad watched as she battled with Daniel's pleading look to her will power. Inevitably, she resorted to using a dirty trick and looked to Jack imploringly.

"If we don't go to bed… Santa won't come to our house."

It worked exactly as Maddie planned. Jack's eyes lit up with juvenile joy before he leapt up to his feet, grabbed Danny and swung the teen over his shoulders.

"Bed. Now." Is all Vlad's old collage _friend_ needed or bothered to say before he marched Daniel up to his room like a doll. He only paused to look around at Jazz, probably gauging on whether he could carry two nearly full grown children on his shoulders. Jazz must have considered how lucky she was at the time and followed after Jack, chuckling.

"Time flies when you're having fun."

"Yeah," Danny agreed with less joy as he crossed his arms.

The three disappeared upstairs and Vlad suddenly realized a golden opportunity to speak with Maddie alone. A mental wolf perked up curiously, catching the smell of a chance.

"I hope you don't mind sleeping down here for the night,"

"Of course not, knowing that you let me-"

"_Huun!_ Bed!" Oh for the love of… Vlad forced himself from scowling as Jack's voice bellowed from upstairs. A relieved looking Maddie smiled sweetly as she went to remove her winter jacket and hang it on a hook out in the hall.

"G'night Vlad," She was already starting her way up the stairs. "Blankets can be found in the chest behind the couch."

"Ah-… Night." He replied with false bliss.

Brushed off like he was a fly. Vlad muttered coldly as he flopped back into the couch once Maddie's footsteps had faded upstairs.

Things certainly weren't going the way he had intended when he came here. An entire day was wasted with no progress or even a complete sentence towards Maddie. It was more of a set back after realizing Daniel frequent attempts to challenge his wishes.

Frowning, Vlad got up to his feet and went to change into his night clothes in the Fenton's bathroom. At one point during dinner, Maddie and Jack had insisted that he stayed here for the night- even though they didn't really have any space to hold a guest. Jack offered to let Vlad room in with Daniel, but the billionaire and Jazz instantly objected.

So now he had a couch in the living room as a bed. Vlad didn't feel at all irritated by his accommodation, it was understandable, but he couldn't help but wonder if it was worth it all when the only thing he was getting out of staying here was a head ache.

Vlad sighed, feeling terribly undecided.

Soon changed and cleaned up for the night, wearing his usual night garments- a flannel packers color oriented button up top and matching pants- Vlad pulled out a blanket or two from a chest that Maddie had earlier pointed out and rested back to the couch. He knew that sleep wasn't going to be easy tonight. Not only did he feel mildly uncomfortable resting on a couch for sleep, but his mind was still unwinding slowly with all of the pent up ire of the day. That game, Vlad sneered into the now dark room, was the most idiotic game he could have ever heard of…

And yet he managed to lose in every round that he played save for one. Vlad scowled. He never liked to play by the rules. Normally he doesn't get caught breaking them, but that wasn't the case. Daniel… Daniel was getting on his nerves, thought Vlad. And when he had the opportunity, he would…

Someone clapped their hands together in the darkness of the room.

Abruptly, Vlad was sitting up on the couch, looking around himself hastily. The blankets fell down to his waist. He couldn't see anything. Even in the dark, Vlad's eyes had easily adapted with the help of his ghost half, but that didn't help enough. No one was there.

Then he heard a familiar voice- albeit more mischievous than he had heard before- but a voice close to his ears. "The game of Mal has officially begun." A card popped into existence at the sound of a clap and landed in the billionaire's lap.

He picked up the card slowly and turned it up so that he could see what it was. Vlad paled at the sight of a nine of diamonds.

----

To be continued…

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The game is also known as 'The social challenge' or something like that. But from who taught me, told me the game was called Mal. So I call it mal. And yes, the rules probably differ from what some may already know.

**Thanks to: **_ContradictoryOrien_ (Bah, you don't sound spoiled. 3) _DPshadow, gjcoolio, EnVys pEt NeKo2, Murder Junkie_ (omg yes. Should have happened. So should have. Hahaha!) _Broken0dream_ (really!? Wow thanks! I could show you some other stories that I know are faaar better than this!), _Xx.Fma-Dnangel.xX _( 3 thanks!)_ Cloud97_ (Next chapter will have danny/vlad goodness. Yum yum ;D), and _Arin._


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter eighteen, Merry Christmas.

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Danny Phantom appeared in a wisp of smoke, hovering just in the space of air over Vlad, who had already fallen backwards, shocked at the sight of the teen.

He wasn't wearing the same wardrobe that he had earlier worn and at this moment the genie didn't look at all like Danny Phantom either. For starters, he had a malevolent smirk across his vaguely tanned skin that completely destroyed the innocent personality the half ghost most often had. Secondly, he also looked older, especially with the new choice of ghostly wardrobe over his shoulders. His neck was bare of clothing, and the collar of his top formed a 'V' shape, exposing a little bit of his chest while a white cowl was turned up close to the nap of the boy's neck.

He didn't have time to analyze Daniel's attire too long as he became more concerned with what the boy was doing in contrast to how he looked. Albeit, with his snowy white hair partially down in his face and bright green eyes focused dead on to him was hard not to brush aside, but when the boy began to lean and pull himself down onto Vlad's lap he failed to notice their brilliance as he went to make a hasty wish.

"I wi-"

Before Vlad could say it, the said genie eliminated his ability to speak by quickly sealing his mouth with his own. Vlad's words were stifled into silence as the boy found the particular need to shove him down against the couch, which he would have doubtlessly objected to if he wasn't so distracted by a tongue invading his mouth.

He could taste the teen against his lips. It was as sweet as he last recalled, only this time Daniel was the one exploring his mouth, brushing his hot tongue up against Vlad's, who in turn went to bite him for daring to try such a stunt. The ghost must have anticipated this and his tongue darted out in time before Vlad could clamp his teeth together.

The billionaire went to pull away from Daniel, but the genie wasn't quiet finished with Vlad and growled with a significant purr in the back of his throat as he caught Vlad's lips a second time, barely giving the man a moment to gasp. And he wasn't just kissing the billionaire any more; he was straddling the man's hips and nuzzling his own legs close against Vlad's sides.

As the teen expected, he earned a muffled groan, giving him a second opportunity to slip his tongue past Vlad's teeth. His fingers splayed out against the mans chest, itched to pull away the man's clothing as he locked his lips against Vlad's, who appeared to be more compliant the second time to Daniel's gestures. However, that didn't last too long as Vlad growled into Daniel's mouth and leaned his head forward, battling back against his tongue in hopes to make the boy pull back.

To his relief, Daniel did part his lips from him after earning a short bite against on his lower lip. The teen glowered briefly; his lips formed a small pout, showing off the redness of his lips as he leaned closer to Vlad, nearly laying entirely over him. Instantly Vlad's hands went up to Daniels sides, intending to lift him off, but the boy's body stiffened and refused to budge from where he was.

"Daniel I wish you-" Vlad restrained a growl before one of Daniel's white gloved hands cut Vlad short, covering the older man's mouth.

"Nine of diamonds, fruitloop." Daniel said; grinning with his head cocked gently to one side. Vlad glowered and went to bite at Daniel's hand, but before he could, Daniels other hand slowly- almost playfully- began to unbutton Vlad's top.

"Mhff!" Vlad shivered at the touch of Danny's hands which- as he noticed had large pronounced cufflinks around the wrists, giving the ghost boy the look of wearing a dress suit rather than a jump suit. Further observation had to wait as the genie presently let his fingers draw along his now bare chest.

"No quitting this time." He could hear Daniel click his tongue to the roof of his mouth close to his left ear. Following it, Vlad felt the warm wash of breath bath against his neck. He shuddered and raised his shoulders to deny the genie his neck. Daniel paused to look at Vlad stubbornly before he leaned down to press his lips against the faint dip in Vlad's chest, where he couldn't guard himself.

The breath in Vlad's throat stilled as he rested his head back and bit back a groan. His grip at the boy's waist went lack, which encouraged the genie to proceed to dabble his teasing gestures further down to the middle of his chest. Vlad's mouth fell open in a startled gasp and the few fingers covering over it had flopped in distractingly. He could hear a soft moan against his rising chest as the teen pressed his hips down against his own.

This ignited a mixture of pleasure and agitation for Vlad. Pleasure- obviously due to the action- and agitation because he wasn't the one on top.

Vlad growled and instinctively nipped at the boy's fingers, whom must have been too consumed with the idea that he was 'dominating' Vlad to realize where they were and pulled his hand away in surprise before the older half ghost raised his own hands to take Daniel by his shoulders to rectify the situation.

With a rough jostle and a twist in positions, Daniel was shoved to the pillows of the couch and Vlad's lips were crushing down against Daniel's possessively. Vlad had Daniel pinned down to the couch by his shoulders while returning the reluctant kisses with his less-than-gentle ones. He didn't know whether or not Daniel had let him get the upper hand on purpose or not, but that didn't matter now that Vlad's mind was set on repaying Daniel for his insolent midnight game of _Mal_.

He pulled away soon to avoid leaving a bruise formation on Daniel's bottom lip and the teen began to make a series of yearning sounds as Vlad held him down and refused to give the boy any more playful contact. In the hushed silence of the night, Vlad briefly feared that Daniel's family would be roused by the genie's wanton complaints.

"Be quite," Vlad shushed under his breath, and the teen quieted down a little- but he didn't stop.

"Don't you want me?" Daniel was almost whining while he spoke and Vlad had first assumed he wasn't intending to make any coherent sense until he noticed the sultry but quizzical features across his youthful face.

"I- _what?_" Vlad's brows arched disbelievingly as he sat himself up slightly and gazed down at the ghost boy- half insulted at Daniel's palpable question and half surprised. Or maybe more surprised.

"I said, 'don't you want me?'" He repeated without much alteration from the last time he said it- only now he looked up at Vlad like a needy cat mewling for attention.

"… I didn't think you would- _ever. _Say something like that." Vlad answered bluntly- if not bitterly as he squinted down at the teen.

"Do you?" Daniel persisted and began to paw at Vlad, who in turn was becoming distracted from the conversation. He went to force Danny's hands away from him.

"Can you- can you even _hear_ what you are _saying_?!" He growled at Daniel, feeling frustrated in more than one way by Daniel's irrational behavior.

"Mostly, yes." The boy purred and raised himself under Vlad then squirmed just enough under Vlad to make the billionaire twitch with a series of stifled urges.

"Daniel-" The boy started to whine at the sound of his name. "Stop it!" Vlad hissed, trying to keep his mind on track with Daniel's infuriatingly impossible words. "This isn't you! You would never say that to anyone." He leaned away, meaning to give Daniel a better picture of exactly who he was talking to. "Most of all, to _me!_"

"You're not answering my question…" The genie answered lazily as if Vlad's statement was nothing but the shirt that he had stripped off of Vlad's shoulders. "Do… You… Want… me?" In between each of his words, Daniel suggestively moved himself against Vlad as much as he could with being pinned to the couch by the man's grip.

Vlad faltered, his breath hitching in the back of his throat as he looked down at the genie. He doubted he could answer the boy- no, he didn't want to answer the boy, especially since Daniel would have never tried to ask something like that in his right mind. One of Vlad's eye squinted while the brow of his other rose disbelievingly. Danny proceeded to lick his lips playfully which encouraged Vlad to shake the boy quickly, startling Daniel from his teasing mood.

"I-… Look Daniel, do you know who I am?" He said, intending not to answer the teen's question.

"My master."

"Ye-noo… My _name_, what is my name?" Vlad said, giving Danny a shake of his shoulders again. On any other time, he would have loved to hear that, yet now wasn't it. Daniel didn't seem to like the mistreatment and scowled up at Vlad like a stubborn little cat being brushed the wrong way. He scrunched his nose up temporarily before his frown disappeared and was replaced with an apathetic grin.

"Vlad Masters… ironically." He purred.

"_Exactly_, you're Daniel Fenton! Is this getting through to you!?" He said in an urgent whisper to keep his voice down. Daniel grinned back up at Vlad and began to ease himself upwards even with Vlad's hands firmly holding onto his arms. Vlad's eyes grew wide with the revelation that the genie was treating him like a leaf. All this time Daniel was quite capable of overtaking him and the teen proceeded to bring his arms around his neck, thinking nothing of Vlad's grip that was quickly losing its zest as the teen's head drew closer to his.

"Hm… nooo." He chuckled and the billionaire went to pull himself away from Daniel but as he started to do so, Daniels arms locked around his neck prevented him. Vlad was quickly reminded of the prior night of the genie's intrusion and frowned. Hadn't he wished Daniel not to change his age? Perhaps he wasn't specific enough.

"Daniel I wish-" you'd be back to normal… I wish you were yourself again… wish you'd stop playing with me. Vlad would have wished for any of those, but the teenager intercepted his words by pressing his lips up against his own and pulling himself in closer with the help of his arms around his neck. Vlad could feel the teen brush his tongue against his own, coaxing the billionaire to growl ardently. Vlad fleetingly found himself questioning himself if he really did want Daniel. Did he? One of Daniel's hands brushed down the back of his neck slowly.

Yes, we wanted to say yes, but he knew this wasn't right- this wasn't Daniel. If he did want him- it was not like this. But would he ever have Daniel any other way? He doubted that…

Daniel was beginning to draw closer towards his master, intending to enjoy the early hours of Christmas with more than just sensual kisses. Vlad stiffened and pulled away from his natural instincts and wrenched his head away from Daniel's. A look of surprise crossed the genie's face as his master glared at him in a mixture of misery and anxiety.

"I wish you were asleep." He breathed.

The genie's hands rose limply and quickly clapped together in front of the teen's face and almost as if all of the energy he had in him was spent with that trivial action, Danny Phantom's body slumped back. His eyes- Vlad could see a hurt expression in them before his eye lids fell down over his gaze.

On a much more normal circumstance, Vlad would have let Daniel fall backwards and tumble to the living room floor, but because he didn't want anyone to be disturbed late into the night, and for another unspoken reason, he caught the ghost turned genie by one of his wrists. While he did, Daniel's ghostly appearance began to fade away from his figure and being replaced subtly by his casual night wear.

Swearing under his breath with something probably related to strawberry tarts, Vlad carefully got himself up onto his feet and gingerly rested the teen's sleeping form on the very couch that was considered his bed.

"What am I going to do with you…" He murmured softly as a hand rose to his loose hair and contemplatively raked it while he started down at Daniel's slumber.

How could someone that looked so humble in sleep become a conniving little genie with the power to not only nullify his ghost powers, but become physically stronger then him at a mere clap of his hands? It nerved him to wonder how much harder it may become to keep this genie on a leash.

And in an even more terrible wave of revelation, Vlad realized that Daniel didn't much care about his identity as a ghost. He wouldn't have tried something as foolish as _this_ in his parents own house had he cared. And he wasn't trying to be subtle about it either… At this point, Vlad presumed that the only thing holding Daniel back from revealing his identity to his parents were the wishes that he made.

Vlad shook his head slowly and frowned at the sleeping teen. He wasn't just becoming a hazard to himself… Calmly, a hand rose to touch the side of Daniel's cheek- perhaps because he had the opportunity to do so or maybe because he purely wanted to. Either way, the boy turned his head towards the comforts of the couch as his brows knitted together moodily from the gentle touch. Vlad's frown worsened.

Daniel was becoming a hazard to him as well.

----

"You know how you mentioned that you were intending to celebrate Christmas here?"

"Yes?"

"I didn't think you meant bringing all of your dead friends to celebrate it with us." Norm stated coldly as he stood at the side of a punch table that was set up complimentary to Desiree's magic. The table was trying to move every now and then, but a ghost called Skulker had shackled one of its legs to keep it from galloping off with the spiked eggnog.

"You don' think I'd have shared with all these other ghosts to spend a single night in Vlad Master's mansion? Come on," Desiree threw her head back and laughed brightly. "Every ghost here has wanted the opportunity to make a mess out of Vlad's home."

"Aren't they afraid if he comes back?"

"I told them that Danny had him… preoccupied." A wicked grin spread across her discolored as she brushed back tendrils of her long black hair with one hand.

"Ah hah… But did you have to invite that one?" He gestured with a jab of his thumb towards a ghost clad in a mechanical suit.

"Skulker? You have something wrong with him?"

"Oh no no- not unless you find being measured and weighed like a slab of meat bothering." Norm muttered and took a swig of alcohol mixed eggnog.

"Oh he's only studying you…He's harmless… tonight." Desiree jeered gently, obviously in a good mood now that the gang- or most of them- had managed to show up. By gang, that would be the few ghosts that Desiree rarely met on occasion. The only possible time that they could be called a 'Gang' is when they are either teamed up against Danny Phantom, or were celebrating the ghostly truce and only one of these occasions happen once a year.

"Right, and why did you invite him?" Norm raised his glass in the direction of a stout blue ghost in overalls, who as he watched was apparently in a 'loud' conversation with a deceased lunch lady. From what Norm cared to listen to, it apparently involved boxes.

"Don't want to be rude… Besides, he's surprisingly helpful with the gift exchange."

"Oh goodie." Norm replied with little or no enthusiasm as he finished the last of his eggnog drink and frowned. "I thought all ghosts were supposed to be morbidly depressed all the time." He said with a snort. Norm proceeded to walk from the punch table out in the living room to the dinning hall where a towering spruce tree was set up on the middle of the table compliments by three senior ecto-American vultures. The chandelier over head was acting as the star for the top.

"Oh and I thought that all genies were cheerful, wish abiding, and funny. But I guess we can't all be right." Desiree jibbed while she floated along side Norm and passed a sickly green ghost fiddling with the lights to the Christmas tree. Norm gave the ghost a cautious glance once he realized that he was handling a few raw wires between his fingers to the Christmas lights to the tree. At one point, he had even placed one of the wires on the tip of his tongue, as if taste testing something.

"Yeah, well most genies don't _die._" He said while he watched over his sun glasses as a pasty white child darted across the room chasing after a skeletal bird. Before he could notice the cold dark look that Desiree was giving him, the Christmas tree burst with dazzling lights and a few popping noise, making various guests turn to see who had just taken a photograph of them.

"Success!!" The white haired ghost rose into the air and cackled, throwing his head back in triumph as the lights sparkled and glittered with a range of ghostly colors and the occasional Christmas hues. Only after he had finished his maniacal laugh did he turn to notice both Norm and Desiree.

"Oh, Hello." He said in a perfectly tame voice. Norm's right eye squinted at the sound of the ghost's tone. If the hair wasn't a dead give away, his voice obviously screamed techno-wiz.

"Hello Technus, having a good time?" Desiree answered as she knew that Norm wasn't about to speak to any of these ghosts. The ghost called Technus grinned avidly, revealing a row of unnaturally patterned teeth.

"Am I ever! How is it again that the ghost kid managed to get Plasmius out of this house?" He said, blinking owlishly at the two supposed genies. Desiree went to respond when Norm cut in quickly with a faint growl.

"He's probably distracting him by making his wildest dreams come true," Norm rolled his eyes and Technus paused to study Norm curiously. Then- to Norm's seemingly endless agitation, he leaned over towards Desiree, acting like Norm wasn't there at all and said:

"Is he dead?"

"No, but he's off limits." Desiree said hurriedly as Norm looked at her in a mixture of shock and vehemence. An amused smile played along her purple lips while she nudged Norm along to walk with her. Had Norm been in a better mood, he would have realized that she was being… playful. However, that wasn't the case and the genie raised his shoulders and grumped.

"So this truce is the only thing that's keeping them from booting me out?"

"Hhmm… that and me, and because I told them you had a hand in getting rid of the holiday grouch."

Norm gave Desiree a look.

"Well you did," She said in a matter-of-fact voice. Norm glanced away blandly, trying not to give Desiree the satisfaction of humoring him. She wasn't after all, but the ghost was determined to lighten Norm's mood. Unfortunately, there was someone else who wanted to do the very opposite.

"Ooh, is this our ghost of honor?" quipped a sly voice from behind the two.

Norm turned to see a ghost that resembled a human save for her ability to float, her bright green eyes. Hey, she actually didn't look dead like the rest of them, and she was looking stylishly presentable with that red dress suit and skirt. Norm's lips formed a thin line as the red haired ghost placed her hands on her hips, which happened to help pronounce her curves more bluntly as she watched Norm in the most suggestive of manners.

"Who are you calling a ghost?" Norm replied, sounding accused. Desiree placed a hand on his shoulder, but he hardly noticed it. He was too preoccupied with observing the ghost's particularly nice physic to realize Desiree was trying to deter the conversation. "I'm not dead like the rest of you," He snorted.

"Yet," The ghost replied with a subtle chuckle. Norm stepped back, his expression falling loose from his face. "Ur, how do you…?"

"Not now, Spectra," Desiree interjected and gave the ghost a warning look.

"Why not? He's a sponge of misery," The ghost rose up into the air and floated around Norm until she was at his back. "Just look at him! I give him…maybe a week or so?" She giggled wickedly. Desiree moved over to swat away Spectra like an annoying fly while Norm's shoulders rose instinctively as if he was trying to guard his neck from an attack.

"So Desiree, is this like a date for you? Am I interrupting anything?" The ghost persisted and Norm, deciding that it would be better if he didn't let Spectra's words get to him, straightened up and smiled unkindly.

"Why yes," He said quickly before Desiree had time to snap at Spectra. Desiree hesitated and looked at Norm like he was mad. Norm swung an arm around Desiree's shoulder and pulled her over to his side. "I'm sadly taken and you'll just have to wait your turn," Norm then winked, causing Spectra to pause and stare at the former genie.

"You-"

"Ah, ah- I know you _really_ want this, but I promised myself to Desiree when I die. You'll just have to look for some other dead beat," He grinned significantly, causing Spectra to frown prudently. Unbeknownst to Norm, Desiree was blushing at his shoulder.

"Try someone your own age, maybe." Norm suggested while he began to turn away from Spectra, steering Desiree with him. At this, the red haired ghost flustered angrily as she rose into the air.

"I am not old!"

"Oh no, sure you're not… What are you… maybe thirty eight?" Norm glanced back, raising a brow as if he was gauging her appearance. The ghost growled coldly at the two genies and turned, floating away in a stagnant whirl of fury. Before Norm knew it, he realized that Desiree was giggling lightly which encouraged a smile to form across his face.

"That was pleasant," Desiree cooed while she daintily removed Norm's arm from her shoulders while they two started into the living room where most of the other ghosts had settled down in.

"Wasn't it?" Norm said proudly. "I mean, I know I was being nice about her age, but who is she kidding?"

This earned Norm a few more chuckled from Desiree as the ghost genie looked up at him amiably.

"I was talking about that promise,"

Norm was caught off guard by Desiree at first, and stopped at the door frame to the living room just to study Desiree's curious expression. "Ah hah… yeah, well I'm not going to die any time soon now am I?" He said, trying not to sound too awkward.

Desiree smiled still, which confused Norm since he expected that she would have likely snapped at him for making up an unfulfilled promise of some sorts.

"That's more like it," She purred and drew a hand up to Norm's shoulder. Being the genie that Norm is, he suddenly became aware of all the hints that this ghost was suggesting to him, and he smirked back, almost as if to dare Desiree to try something else.

"Umm… excuse me?" A nasally voice interrupted the two. Desiree sighed and looked away, probably because she was thrown off from her mood. Frowning because Norm just realized he missed out on a good opportunity, he sought out the culprit.

The voice belonged to a monotone ghost, looking like he had stepped out from an old 1930's educational film. He even came along with his nerdy high pants and taped glasses. Norm gave him a half lidded look down at the slouched kid and instinctively brought a hand around Desiree's waist.

"Beat it kid, I'm busy." Norm answered. His hand had grabbed a hold of Desiree's attention again.

"But-"

"I said scram. Can't you see I'm talking with someone else?" He said, looking back at Desiree while his shades slid down on the bridge of his nose.

"But you're sta-"

"Oh _what is it?_" Norm interrupted again and glared down at the persistent ghost. The timid little black and white ghost shrank away before he pointed upwards.

"Mistletoe."

The two genies stared blankly down at Point Dexter for a moment longer before looking above their heads at the white bead like mistletoe pinned to the top of the door frame. Desiree and Norm looked at one another and exchanged two pleased, if not amused smirks.

"Gee, thanks kid." Norm opted to reply before he hooked his other arm around Desiree's curved waist and grinned back at Desiree.

"Merry Christmas."

----

To be continued…

----

B Thanks to/b Evelyn Lucia, NightmareAhead, DPshadow, Anjo, Cloud97, ShiTiger, E-Dantes, Mad-Hatter-LCarol, Carrot Stick, ContradictoryOrien, Xx.Fma-Dnangel.xX Luiz4200, Salai, HitokiriKurisuta, Alonein-Darkness7, Shadow Bette Noire, JC 87


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter Nineteen, Leave of absence

--

Morning arrived too soon with a whispered wish in his ear. He knew the wish, even in his slumber, Danny knew. And even if he didn't, he snapped his eyes open as if reanimated since last night's events. He was about to take full advantage of his silver haired master; reduce him to his primal desires and relish in it… That was precisely what he intended to do, and still had in mind to do but as his eyes caught the signs of morning light he realized that it was all too late.

He missed it. No, Daniel didn't miss it, Vlad had slipped out of his snare and from what Danny could guess, he was probably downstairs in the living room, dressed for the morning and acting like nothing had ever happened.

As if it was nothing important to him.

Danny's expression soured into the soft pillow in his arms. Even though he knew he had given the man a legitimate reason to react the way he had, Daniel felt betrayed. Perhaps he was too rough? _No_. Playing impenetrably-hard-to-get? _No_. Wanted to take it slow- _No!_ Danny squinted coldly at the patterns on his pillow while the pessimistic voice in his head discarded his excuses like foil wrappings. Vlad had ruined a perfectly good opportunity to satisfy both of them. Daniel knew it. He had seen it in Vlad's face that night. Why would he destroy that?

_You sure it wasn't wistful thinking?_ No, Danny didn't think wistful thinking could moan like Vlad did last night.

_Point_.

But there was still something in the way of all this. That something had to do with Vlad and his reluctance to _enjoy_ having a ghost turned genie as a servant- a toy- a pet even. He had something to object in the given circumstance still; now what that objection was, Danny couldn't fathom what it was. Didn't Vlad always want him by his side?

_Not like that_. Danny snorted and pulled his head up from the warmth of his bed. His pessimism was digging a deep hole and trying to dump all of his hopes down it. Refusing to let that little voice get in his way to obtain what _he_ wanted, Danny pulled the sheets off from his legs and scrambled out of bed.

Maybe Vlad didn't like him, but that wasn't going to stop Daniel, especially when he had magic to act as his catalyst.

Dressed in his night wear, Danny itched his crown of raven black hair lazily as he opened the door to his bed room. He couldn't remember going back to bed last night- not that he had intended to- so with a small smirk, Danny figured that Vlad must have put him back in bed without anyone noticing.

Speaking about anyone, as Danny opened the door, he could hear a little bit of idle chit chat from within the living room. Blinking hazily, Daniel started down the stairs and peeked into the living room to find his family already awake for the day- some dressed and others not- beaming over at the Christmas tree with delight. It didn't dawn on Daniel until he had stepped into the living room that he saw that there were new presents from under the Christmas tree wrapped in gold and white holly decorated wrappings.

"Merry Christmas, Danny-boy!" Jack appeared to be the first one to notice the pajama clad teenager and swept up to Danny to slap a hand on his shoulder to draw him into the den. Danny spotted Vlad sitting at the side of the couch quietly. Not because he was being anti-social at the least, but because he was nodding off.

There was a chuckle from his mother that alerted him that Maddie had caught Danny's curious stare at Vlad trying to keep his eyes open. "He must have stayed up last to bring in these gifts as a surprise." Vlad looked up when he over heard his name and smiled adoringly to Daniel's mother.

"Oh please, it was a little late night shopping," He said while trying to, but failing to hide a yawn. Danny smirked. Sure he was up late night shopping... Let's pretend that happened. Danny rolled his eyes, earning a short but disgruntled look from Vlad before he turned to see what exactly Vlad had brought to the addition of this Christmas holiday.

First and most obvious of the gifts were the new ones assorted neatly under the tree ranging in a number of questionable sizes. All of which, to Daniel's disfavor was nothing to what he cared to have. Unless some how Vlad could have wrapped himself in one of these. Hey… a genie could dream. Or wish.

After everyone found a place to sit in the small living room, a gift in all of their hands and waiting eagerly- save for one sleepy billionaire- for the chance to open up their presents. Daniel happened to pick out a present labeled to him that he didn't see the night before. It so happened to have no particular shape, or at least, if Daniel was any judge of containers beside lamps and Fenton thermoses, then the teen suspected that he was holding a wrapped basket. Danny was minutes from sliding his fingers beneath the paper wrapping when Jazz opened her present given to him.

"Ooh! Danny! I'm so glad you got me this!" She exclaimed in joy. Danny swiveled his head around to look at Jazz peeling open his present to her and hugging the book up against herself. Danny smiled even though he felt more inclined to open up his own present. However, the next to burst out their dramatic joy was Maddie.

"Vlad! My gosh!" Danny and the rest of the family looked at Maddie as she opened a small jewelry box that she had unwrapped and pulled out from it a gorgeous diamond studded necklace. She looked amazed, but a hint concerned as she looked over the brilliance of it, and Vlad's tired smile. "Vlad, this looks so expensive! You really shouldn't have- It's beautiful!"

Maddie wasn't flattering Vlad, but the older man appeared to be taking it in that direction. Danny rolled his eyes as Maddie discreetly placed it back into the jewelry box to probably never wear unless in Vlad's presence again.

Danny thought Maddie was being too nice to Vlad, but didn't say anything about it to ruin the festive morning. Instead, he returned his attention back to his own present while Vlad proudly boasted that 'it wasn't much'. However before Danny could pull away the ribbon, Jack hooted in joy.

"Waffles!" He exclaimed. Because this announcement made no sense, every one looked at him except for Danny, who was growing annoyed that he couldn't open his present without being polite and looking at what the other family member got. Jack produced from a box a waffle machine, and after a few gleeful ideas that he spouted upon what he intended to make of it- if not waffles- he thanked Vlad for the gift.

"It was really nothing…" Vlad said dryly. Danny believed him too.

"Why don't you opening something Vladdy? Santa probably got you something great!" As awkward as that sounded no one, even Maddie, felt inclined to crush Jack's childish joy on Christmas day by telling him that Santa wasn't real. Danny stopped all attempts to opening his present, figuring that he might as well wait a little longer for Vlad to open up some of the gifts contributed, but not labeled, by him.

Vlad quickly looked at Danny suspiciously before hesitantly agreeing. Danny didn't doubt that Vlad suspected something after Danny started using his magic to switch the cards around in their game last night.

To be true, there were only two gifts under the tree for Vlad due to the short notice. One present from the family combined- excluding Danny, and the other without a name secretly placed there by Danny. Vlad found it safer to open the one 'from the Fentons' and unwrapped it.

It was nothing spectacular considering Vlad's income, but the gift was silk red flannel pajamas. Vlad faked his amusement and thanks in receiving something that he probably already had only in shades of greens and gold, but as he pulled them out, he noticed something more.

"What's this?" He spoke, thinking nothing of it but some black cloth. Danny grinned from ear to ear. No one aside from Vlad could see what he held up from how the box was positioned on his lap. The flap blocked off everyone's view of what he was observing. Danny knew what it was however…

The wonders of magic had a magnificent talent of adding a little something more into the family gift. Some words to describe this marvelous gift are: shiny, leather, sleek, laced—

Vlad's expression changed from curiosity to shock and later embarrassment before he snapped the box shut.

"Never mind, it was just the packaging," He smiled sheepishly and thanked the family again without looking directly at Danny.

"It's always fun to have different styles of pajamas." Danny quipped as he sat back, enjoying the fact that Vlad's ears were turning red. Danny was unaware that Jazz noticed the odd interaction and had stared suspiciously at her brother.

Finally it was Danny's turn to open his present. Danny would have liked to believe that he would find something 'special' from Vlad, but considering the man's reluctances since last night, a tube of tooth paste or a twenty dollar gift certificate probably would be it.

Danny would love it anyways if it was.

He peeled the wrapping off and revealed his main assumption of his gift. It was a gift basket, but fortunately tooth paste was not in the list of things that were stuffed in them. DVD movies, computer and video games, sweets, candies, _body wash_, and last and quite possibly the least of Danny's interest there was a smooth clean container, a little larger than the thermos and fairing a similar size.

"Wow." It wasn't what he 'really' wanted, but with the body wash Danny could dream. It was a lot more than what he had expected from Vlad, which wanted him to ask if the man wanted him, or not. But being restricted by a number of wishes, Danny settled to picking through the items, and cooing in a fashion that was alarmingly similar to how Vlad addresses Maddie, Danny thanked the man. Over and over.

"What's this?" Danny shook the container, getting the feel that it was a shaker for drinks or something of the sort. Only with more observation there was a small dial on the cap with a changeable date on it. Maddie was the first to clue into what it was when she saw Danny prodding at it.

"Oh Vlad, isn't that a neat little idea! You got him a time capsule!"

"A what?" Danny said before thinking. The first thing that came to mind was some kind of sci-fi movie about traveling into the future- not that it wasn't too unreal for Daniel. He moved to open it but to his frustration he couldn't pry it open at all. Maddie gestured Danny to pass it to her and to Danny's mild surprise, the cap came off with an easy twist.

"This brings back memories. Jack, remember our time capsule? It was all the fad back then," She chuckled as she looked into it. Danny was anxious to see if there was anything in it. To answer his question indirectly, Maddie had turned it upside down while looking at the rest of the simple thing. Nothing came out.

"Nearly our whole year had one! We all spent our last week together finding the perfect places to stow them away."

"I've been keeping mine in a shoe box… I had completely forgotten about it until now." Maddie said, smirking while capping the capsule and handing it to Danny. Earnestly, Danny attempted to open it and failed to his irritation.

"I buried mine!" Jack announced proudly. "Where's yours, Vlad?"

The billionaire snorted. "I've never had one really. I didn't feel inclined to keep some of my memories from college." He said, putting on some effort not to sound or look bitter.

As if reminded of an awkward conversation Maddie settled to clearing her throat as she noticed Danny was putting a lot of his attention in trying to open the capsule again. "You pick out a few things that you consider worth remembering and keep them in there for safe keeping."

Danny huffed and gave up trying to open it now and making a fool of himself and opted to watch Vlad and otherwise enjoy what he could on this Christmas Day with what he couldn't have. In all essence, his mother loved the set of dissecting tools and gloves that Danny had wished up for her, and Jack, being the simple but loveable father that he was, took favor in the store bought maple fudge than he did the set of miniature action figures of Amity's frequent haunters.

Jazz seemed to be the only one who was curious as to how Danny could afford the gifts, but as Danny had hoped and suspected, she was far too polite in badgering him about it. Even Vlad's 'other' gift got a few laughs since everyone assumed it was a joke. No one knew 'who' gave it to him, but it seemed all the more amusing when Vlad opened a present to find lingerie for that 'special someone'. Inevitably, Vlad couldn't hide it this time when the entire gift consisted of six varieties of women's underwear. What was so amusing out of this was that each of them was tied to a little card that poetically described what each of them aught to be worn for. One for stripping, one for spying beneath a skirt, one for work in the office another for--

Vlad had hastily taken the remaining articles of Daniel's present and rammed them back into the box while the Fenton's had a hearty laugh.

Embarrassing Vlad was an understatement, but since everyone took it as a joke. He covered it up with a lie about 'a girl who has a 'thing' for him.'

The holiday was going relatively nicely. All the expectations that Danny predicted had been met in some way or form, even the eventual door bell ringing in the afternoon as his two best friends came to 'check up' on Danny and wish him a good holiday. Danny had answered the door since everyone else- by everyone else, it was mostly Jack- was trying to get Vlad to participate in collaborating all the possibilities that a waffle iron can become in the right- or wrong- hands.

"Jack, I was hoping you'd just make waffles out of it really." Danny could hear Vlad drawl irritably just as he went to answer the door.

The first and foremost action that Danny did not want was the hug he received the second he opened the door. A chill ran down his back too similar to the cold air outside for him to tell if it was the weather. Sam launched at him and immediately clung to Danny closely.

"Danny!"

Opting to be surprised, Danny moved to push Sam off from him." Whoa, whoa, hey there Sam, what's gotten into you?"

Tucker was at her side seeming the more skeptical of Sam's fear as he pulled his scarf away from his face.

"Sam got a little worried about a night ago when she had a bad dream about ghosts." Tucker shrugged. Danny paused and looked between the two and frowned.

"What happened?"

They stepped in and began to shuck off some of their snow gear while Sam explained a little distantly as if she wasn't entirely sure now that Danny was before her perfectly safe and sound.

"Well, I was dreaming that Tuck and I were in the specter speeder with Desiree and some other ghost. I don't know why we were really there or anything, but the next moment I woke up still holding the Fenton thermos I had in my dream."

Danny arched a disbelieving brow.

"And you thought I was in trouble."

"And usually anything to do with ghosts means that you are in trouble," Sam huffed indignantly. Tucker seemed to be glad that Danny was all right and Sam's premonition was wrong, and did what he initially came here to do.

"Merry Christmas Danny!"

Mocking an equal amount of cheer, Danny let the two in; having forgotten temporarily that Vlad's presence would raise a few alarms.

Before Danny had time to step into the kitchen and watch the amusement that was Vlad being forced to associate with his father Sam and Tucker stopped him.

"Why's _he _here?" Sam said, taking a short look into the kitchen at Vlad.

It was around that instant that Danny felt oddly resentful with the way Sam glared out at Vlad, or Tucker's concerned look. Rather than defending him as he felt to do so, Vlad's wish became active and Danny began to lie just as he had been told, but with a sour tone.

"I indirectly invited him here when he caught me snooping at his place." It was the same lie he fed Jazz and like his sister, his two friends began to fret.

"He hasn't tried anything while he was here?" Tucker said.

"Not unless eyeing my mom like a trophy is considered suspicious now." Danny grumped. "Honestly, I think Vlad didn't have anything planned. You know, especially with the ghost truce and all?"

"That was yesterday. Vlad could have something up his sleeve today."

"And you both know I'll be able to handle it. Jazz and I have been keeping a close eye on him. If anything, I think Jack's doing a better job keeping him in place around mom than Jazz and I right now."

"Well all right… you still enjoying your holiday?"

Danny tried not to sound too enthusiastic. "Of course!" and failed. To cover it, he smirked. "What? Vlad's completely harmless."

"It's not like you to take Vlad so lightly." Sam said skeptically.

"Just trust me. I have everything under control."

"Well, all right… but would you like us to stick around in case?" Tucker offered with a nudge of his elbow into Danny's side. The former ghost boy withheld a grimace.

Danny was about to tell them no, but someone else answered for him.

"No, no that won't be necessary, I'll be leaving soon anyways," Vlad said as he stepped from the kitchen, dusting his suit of flour that Jack had generously spilled while in the process of making waffles. "Daniel, I'm going to have a word with you before I head out."

Heading out? Leaving? Without him? Danny looked anxiously at Vlad for a few second when he remembered Sam and Tucker were there and smirked indignantly and gave the older billionaire an offhanded and _normal_ response.

"Why? Enjoying your self too much here?"

Vlad pinched the bridge of his nose and resisted the desire to glare at Daniel when behind him he could hear Jack calling him back. He left the three teens with three visible grins across their faces.

Sam was the first to laugh. "Okay, we believe you now."

"Being here must be a task for him on its own," Tucker chuckled. Danny joined in, albeit hollowly as he fretted about what Vlad had in mind to speak to him about before he left. Danny didn't want Vlad to leave either. Not unless Vlad was planning on taking him along.

With his friends assured, they spent a portion of their holiday afternoon chattering about the gifts they got. Danny didn't really feel inclined to talk very much, but he did when some how their discussion usually lead to Vlad and how they, Danny's family were dealing with the fruitloop. Danny had even gone so far as describe what he thought was absolutely hilarious of the night before while playing the game of Mal.

"Dude, so he actually had to take his clothes off?" Tucker said, sounding a little grossed out, but still amused.

"Yeah, well he quit the game when he got down to his dress shirt and pants." Danny snickered at the thought, thinking about what it would have been like if Vlad hadn't quit. Unaware of it, he had earned two short lived glances between Tucker and Sam.

Before long Tucker and Sam left to return to their own family after Danny assured them again that 'nothing was up.' Danny didn't feel as terrible as he thought he would in lying to his friends that something was up. Sure, it was true that Vlad was harmless against him at this point, but it didn't mean something wasn't up. In essence, Danny felt himself not caring while he waited for Vlad to make his announcement to leave.

It was a little into the evening before dinner started that Vlad paused for attention and with he sincerest tone he could muster, he spoke.

"I want to make it up for you all for inviting me by offering all of you to come to a new years eve party at Wisconsin. All expenses paid for."

Jack immediately leapt at the opportunity, whereas Maddie gratefully thanked him and took into consideration of any plans that they might have had. Coming up with no excuses that Jack didn't already bat away, the Fentons accepted.

Did Vlad have something planned after all? Danny didn't know, but again, he doubted it was anything he couldn't handle.

It was a little after dinner that Danny caught Vlad in the living room with his luggage giving his thanks to Maddie for the stay before he gestured to Danny to come over to him. Maddie had gone into the kitchen to retrieve something that Vlad had purposely forgotten about- which included Daniel's gift to him- and during that moment alone with each other, Vlad moved to pick up Daniel's small time capsule and opened it up.

"How many wishes do I have left, Daniel?" He said calmly as he produced a letter from his back pockets and slipped it into the capsule. Danny stared in curiosity as he answered.

Danny couldn't lie, but he really didn't find a reason to lie to him any more. "Three."

"Then I wish that you will stay with your family regardless of where your lamp is until our next encounter." Unable to make out much meaning to that, let alone find a decent loop around his wish, Danny clapped his hands.

"Now I'm sure you've already figured out what this is made out of." Vlad capped the capsule and returned it back to its place amongst Danny's gifts. The genie didn't know and as if the answer was written confusion across his face Vlad sighed and filled him in. "It's made of smoof. And I'm going to wish that you don't let anyone try to open it up for you," Danny clapped his hands again and snorted.

"What did you put in there?"

"Nothing that you would care about, I assure you," Vlad said stiffly and returned picking up his luggage. Unwilling to let Vlad get away without some kind of answer explaining his actions, Danny moved and grabbed the man's sleeve before he could turn away.

"What are you planning, Vlad?" Danny asked, staring determinedly up at the older hybrid.

In the most 'Vlad' way that his master could answer, he grinned crookedly.

"Wouldn't you like to know?"

--

To be continued…

**Thanks to those who have harassed me to get back onto the horse and loosen those reigns. You all know who you are, and don't be modest. It was really nice to hear from you all even after a year of no updates.**

**And no, I'm not going to put off the next chapter that long again. **


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